Through the Years
by demiducky25
Summary: COMPLETED: This story follows the X-men, particularly Gambit and Rogue, through the years...love, loss, family, struggle for acceptance...also featuring Wolverine, Storm, Iceman, Cyclops, Jubliee, Jean-Grey, Beast, Prof. X, Nightcrawler...
1. And so it Begins

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student.  I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there.  Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental.  As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike_

Long one-time note: Hi everyone, I've only written one other story on this site so far and it was a one-shot, so it is kind of exciting to try something with chapters.  I know the story of Gambit and Rogue has been done and re-done countless times with many similarities and I am sorry for that, but I hope that you like some of the spin I put on it.  My brother and I use to come up with epic sagas for the X-men and other many years ago and a lot of the elements of this story are from those long hours spent bored on car trips or at relatives' houses.  You know, after watching the show or reading the comics we would talk about what we wished would happen.  So as a warning, there may be mixes between the comic verse and the old cartoon.  I'm sorry if I mix things up from time to time but maybe it will make it interesting.  Of course modifications have been made from our childhood stories to try to stick with the current comic line.  I hope this works out!  Also, if I ever give more detailed info than necessary, it is most likely for the benefit of my friends that never heard of the X-men until they met me, but since they are such good friends, they are reading this anyway.  Ok, enough babbling, on to the story!

And so it begins…  Feel free to say hi or something, everyone loves comments.  Plus, I want to know if anyone is actually reading this:-P  Also, if the dialect changes every now and then, I'm sorry.  I tried to keep it consistent but it also seems to change from comic to comic so mine might change depending what I happened to use as a guide at the time.

Through the Years

**Part I**

Chapter One: And so it Begins…

It was inevitable.  That's all he kept telling himself while he zigzagged through the traffic on his motorcycle. After all, something this wonderful couldn't last forever.  Ever since he and Rogue lost their powers when seemingly killed by Vargas, Gambit felt that he and Rogue would eventually be able to live the life that they had both dreamed of sharing together.  Oh sure, there had been interruptions in their attempt at a blissful life, a suicide bomber at a club Rogue was at, his having to go to Texas with Storm on "Family Business," the seemingly never-ending prejudices between mutants and humans, and more.  But nothing stopped Gambit from believing that one day at a time he and Rogue would be able to build the life they dreamed of together.  He was even prepared to propose to her after this last mission.  He even had a ring.  He had gotten it not long after meeting her, years ago, before they were really even friends, much less lovers; back when he had been relentless in pursuing her and she was relentless in rejecting him.  Gambit smiled at the memory of when he got the ring.  One day he was tricked by Jubilee into driving her to the mall.  As the teenaged X-man tried on clothing, Gambit wandered around the mall.  He saw in the window of a small jewelry shop the most beautiful ring that he had ever seen.  He went in the store and told the old woman behind the counter that he planned to buy that ring as a gift for the woman that he was going to marry.  As the elderly lady got the ring out of the display and placed it carefully in the box she told Gambit that she hoped this woman knew how lucky she was to have such a caring boyfriend.  Gambit had laughed and said, "Boyfriend!  Mon Dieu!  Gambit just a thorn in mon chere's side!"  With a wink he took his purchase leaving a confused white-haired woman shaking her head behind the counter.

Gambit knew that he and Rogue were survivors.  They worked through the time she became blind, the time when Belladonna kidnapped Cody, and the whole thing with Joseph.  They even survived everything that came as a result of their time in Antarctica. After all of those things, he just knew that they could survive this.  Professor X had called upon Gambit for a particular mission in which his thieving talents, not his mutant powers, were essential.  Though no longer full time members of the X-men, Gambit and Rogue didn't mind helping out wherever they could.  After all, the X-men were like family, in fact, the friends they made there were more like family than blood relatives that either of them ever had.  Gambit, Professor X, and anyone else involved knew that the job would be quick and easy.  After all, Gambit and Storm were both experienced thieves and Wolverine was…well…Wolverine.  The details of the mission were no longer important; after all they got the job done.  It's what happened during the mission that was important at the moment.  On their way out, he, Wolverine, and Storm ran into a bit of trouble.  While Storm conjured up a gust of wind to knock a group of angry thugs, Wolverine took care of things the way that only Wolverine could.  Gambit used his agility to flip over a few angry guards then picked up a rock.  When he threw the rock, no one was as surprised as the seeming powerless Gambit that the rock charged and blew up above the heads of a few of the men.  But if Gambit's powers had come back, that could only mean one thing…

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Rogue's eyes were red from crying.  Normally she'd be on coffee break at the auto shop, but she couldn't bear the thought of being around people right now.  For so long she didn't have to worry about absorbing other people's psyches and powers.  She had been able to live in relative peace with her Remy.  Well, as much peace as two former mutants could live in.  But she and Gambit had found happiness, and that was all that mattered to her.  She had been making herself some breakfast, but she found that the drawer that held the spoons captive wouldn't budge.  A tad bit annoyed, she smiled and thought about how Gambit kept promising to fix it.  Her annoyance grew as she tried to free the hostage spoons, but she soon found the handle, the attached drawer, and most of the cabinet yanked from the wall.  But if this could happen, did this mean that her powers had come back?  Desperate for an answer she stood on the kitchen table and jumped off, hoping that she'd fall back to Earth, instead she found herself hovering in mid air.  NOOOO!!!!! How can this be!  If the powers she absorbed from Ms. Marvel so long ago were back, did that mean…no she couldn't bear the thought of losing her ability to freely touch people.  She couldn't go back to a life of physical isolation again.  Especially not since she and Gambit had found such happiness. 

Rogue placed a call to the one person she felt could help her determine what happened.  He took the Blackbird and made it from the mansion in New York to the house that Gambit and Rogue shared in California in record time.  Beast scanned Rogue and performed some tests, but it was all a blur.  All she could remember was the dreaded answer that she got.  Sure enough, Rogue's powers were back.  The good news was that she only had her original absorbing powers and those that she acquired from Ms. Marvel.  She didn't have to worry anymore about manifesting a random power from someone she absorbed at some point in her life.  The bad news was that she was right back to where she started when she joined the X-men, unable to touch people.  "What am Ah suppose to do now," Rogue cried.  "How do Ah tell Remy?  How can Remy and Ah go on livin' the way we have been?  It's ovah, our last chance at happiness is gone forevah!"  Beast sat helpless in the living room as Rogue flew off to the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.  Not use to having her super strength back, the wooden door shattered as if made of glass.


	2. Matters of the Heart

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student.  I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there.  Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental.  As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike**_

Through the Years

Chapter Two: Matters of the Heart

Rogue had been crying so hard in the room that she and Gambit shared that she didn't ever know Gambit had come home.  Beast, who had been sitting helpless in the living room, got up to explain the situation to Gambit, but the Cajun motioned to Beast that he didn't want to talk.  Gambit followed the cries to the bedroom.

With a low whistle Gambit said, "Chere, what did t'door ever do to you." As he stepped over the remnants of the door she looked up at the man she loved, before she could say anything, he spoke again. "Rogue, I t'ink I know why you are crying, please let me finish before you say anyt'ing.  First of all, know dat I love you more than anyone in th'world.  Know dat I would do anyt'ing for you.  Know dat I want to be with you.  For so long we denied our feelings for each other and dat brought us unhappiness.  Even when we did know our feelings for each other, we still were unhappy because we refused to let ourselves be together.   Well I am sick of dat.  When you pulled me back to life it was because you wanted to try once and for all t'have a relationship.  We were blessed Rogue, no powers meant that we could finally express our love without the risk of me ending up in a coma or worse."  

At the mention of her powers, Rogue turned away from Gambit.  She couldn't bear to look at the man standing in the doorway; it was a painful reminder that she could no longer touch him.  Gambit sensed that she picked up on this so he continued:

"My powers came back during the mission, an' I assume dat dis crying and th'destroyed door mean dat yours have as well.  If you t'ink dat I am going to let dis stop us, YOU ARE WRONG girl.  Dis time we made it work an' I won't let anyt'ing stop us, not even our powers.  Rogue, I love you for who you are.  If the reappearance of our powers means dat we can't touch den so be it.  It sucks, oui, but dat's not what's important.  What is important is dat we are together.  I want us t'be together, but not t'way we are now."

With a deep breath, Gambit moved across the room to the bed and sat next to Rogue.  He noticed that she was already back to her old habit of wearing gloves and clothing that covered nearly every part of her body.  It was insurance that no one would accidentally touch her and that she wouldn't be tempted touch someone else.  Gambit took her delicate gloved hands into his own, gazed into her emerald eyes, and continued to speak.

" I want t'ask you somet'ing that will change t'fate of our relationship forever.  Your answer Chere will determine whether we live happily ever after as best we can or we go on tormenting ourselves t'way dat we have done in t'past.  Rogue, mon coeur, will you marry me?"   With that he pulled the ring out of one of the many hidden pockets of his duster jacket pocket.  

Rogue found herself in a state of disbelief.  She had been waiting for this moment for as long as she could remember.  The only thought that crossed her mind was that sitting in front of her was the love of her life, her soulmate.  His fiery red on black eyes looked deep inside her seeing something that no one else could see.  She didn't know what it was but something about the way he looked at her wiped away any doubts or insecurities that she might have had.

"Oh Remy!!!!  YES of course Ah'll marry ya!"

And in the happiness and excitement of the moment, Rogue felt herself being pulled into a kiss by Gambit.  She felt his warm skin pressed against hers, and the love they shared between them.  She could feel everything, from the slight scratching of his facial stubble against her silky skin to the strong arms wrapped around her holding her in such a fashion that she always knew she'd be safe.  Then she remembered that her powers were back and pushed him away.  Amazingly the Cajun found himself still standing, or sitting as the case may be.  Dumbfounded, Rogue looked at him. 

"Wha…what's goin' on?"

Gambit was just as mystified as Rogue.  However, his senses told him that everything was going to be alright.  His intuition kept him alive on the streets of New Orleans and while fighting some of the most powerful villains in the world.  He knew when to trust it and this was one of those times.

 "Care to give it another try Chere?  Perhaps that was just luck, non?"

 "But I don't wanna hurt ya Remy."

"Just trust Gambit on this one Chere."

            And they kissed and again nothing happened.  Rogue pulled off her gloves and touched Gambit's face, still nothing.  Neither Rogue nor Gambit knew what to say.  There were no words for what they were both feeling.  Gambit wordlessly slid the ring onto Rogue's now ungloved hand, and held her.  She knew that as long as he held her everything else didn't matter.

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**Author's Note:** I hope this chapter is soon enough for you.  For me spring break = very limited internet= no fan fictions!  I don't know what I am going to do when the summer rolls around if I am not done with the story! 

I am such a sucker for romance, can you tell?  However, only time will tell if things will remain happy for these two lovebirds and their friends.  I'd like to thank those of you who are reading this.  I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.  I have seen numerous other authors on this site use this fashion of talking to their readers, so I have adopted it as well:

**Tammy~ **YAY!  You are the first person to review my story!  Thanks!  I hope this chapter helped to address your question a little bit. 

**Ishandahalf~ **Thank you for your kind words!  I wasn't sure if I started the story off well or not, but you made me feel a whole lot better about it!  Whether it's a story or a term paper, I have the worst time with introductions.  I have a good feeling about the rest of the story.  

**T.~ **I am glad that you are so optimistic about Gambit and Rogue working it out, that makes me smile.

**Martha~ **I know, they never get a break!  But then again I guess that part of their allure is the fact that their relationship involves overcoming tragedies of one sort or another. 

I hope that you all will continue to read my story to see what happens.  Keep the comments coming; I love to know what people think.  Thanks again!


	3. Matters of Science

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student.  I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there.  Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental.  As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike**_

Through the Years

Chapter Three: Matters of Science

Neither Gambit nor his fiancée knew how long they sat there holding each other.  It didn't matter to either of them; however, Gambit eventually remembered that he had seen Beast sitting in the living room upon his entry into the house.  He asked Rogue about their blue furry friend's presence and Rogue explained why she called Beast.  She told Gambit how the tests and scans revealed that her powers were still intact.  With a slight smile Gambit said, "If dat be de case, den we'd better tell Beast dat he might be wrong."  They held each other for a few seconds longer before making their way to the living room.

 After congratulating the Cajun and the southern belle on their engagement, Beast put Rogue through the same scans and battery of tests that she had been subjected to earlier in the day.  He also ran a few tests on Gambit as well to see if the immunity was really held by him and not by Rogue.  After a few hours of poking and prodding, scans and note taking, Beast had yet to come to a solid conclusion.

"It appears that for whatever reason, Gambit has a new found immunity to Rogue's powers." Beast concluded.  "To be perfectly honest, I can't find an infallible conclusion.  My findings show that Rogue, you still have your powers and Gambit, you still have yours.  I am truly at a loss to explain it.  I'd love to run some more tests, I'm certain I can determine the cause based on evidence derived from the fact that you both nearly died together and somehow this cancelled out you powers effect on each other, but we'll have no way of knowing for certain until…"

Before the eager Dr. McCoy could finish stating his thesis Rogue cut him off by saying, "No offence Beast, but Ah don't wanna be put through all sorts of tests.  Can't we just determine it is the course of true love and leave it at that.  Ya said it yourself that the effects seem permanent.  As long as ya can find no reason why Remy or Ah should be worried that something could go wrong, then Ah would like to consider this some sort of miracle.  Now if y'all excuse me, this day has me beat.  Ah'm going to head off to bed. Hank, you are more than welcome to spend the night in the guest room.  And Remy," she said with a sultry grin, "ya know where our room is."

With a hug to Beast through her gloved hands and long sleeves and a passionate kiss to Remy, Rogue headed off to bed.  Beast had no choice but to abandon his plans of medical tests, well for now anyway.  He had a few conclusions to play with however.  Either Gambit was immune to Rogue's powers because of the time they shared connected while dying at the hands of Vargas, or Rogue had learned to control her powers.  He had a long held belief that Rogue's inability to control her powers was psychological since when the Carol Danver's personality took over all those years ago, in every instance, Ms. Marvel could control when and how to use Rogue's absorption.  But that didn't explain why Gambit seemed to be the only one who could touch her, and frankly Beast wasn't ready to be his own guinea pig in an experiment with Rogue's powers.  However, it didn't seem to matter in the long run.  There would be plenty of time for tests in the future if need be.  Dr. McCoy was just thrilled to see two of his dearest friends so happy together.

"Gambit, I really don't know what to say to you," Beast said after Rogue left the room.  "I hoped upon hope that you and Rogue would some day find this kind of happiness with each other.  You have had so many hardships to overcome, and I know that if any two people can make a marriage work, it is you and Rogue.  Too many people don't know what they have until it is too late, but not you two.  As Boris Pasternak said in his famous novel _Doctor Zhivago_ 'Most people experience love, without noticing that there is anything remarkable about it.'  But you and Rogue know the remarkable part of love and for that you are truly blessed."

Gambit couldn't help but smile at his friend's kind words.  "T'anks mon ami.  And don't worry," he said with a wry smirk "you'll be gettin' an invitation to t'big event." 

Beast grinned and rolled his eyes at the remark as he headed to the guest room down the hall.  Gambit pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and thought twice about lighting it inside the house.  He knew that Rogue hated the fact that he still smoked, so he made his way outside to the porch.  He sat on the porch swing and lit the cigarette that had been in his hand.  "Really should t'ink of quittin'" he thought as he blew smoke into the night sky he thought about how he was the luckiest man alive.  

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**Author's Note:** Thanks for your comments, you really made me want to get another chapter out ASAP.  I think it's short but sweet!  I hope that you all will continue to read my story to see what happens.  Keep the comments coming; it's nice to know that people are reading this.  Thanks again!

**Ishandahalf~ **Glad that chapter 2 put some of your fears to rest, but there is plenty of time for potential angst later…dun dun DUN (dramatic music).  Only time will tell what's going to happen…

**Tammy~ **I am so glad that you enjoyed chapter 2!  I hope that this chapter helps to answer a few of your questions, maybe raise a few others too.  Perhaps soon we will find out if Gambit is the only one who can touch Rogue or if others can too.  

**T.~ **Thanks, glad you enjoyed the chapter :-)


	4. Magnetic Pole of the Xmen

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student.  I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there.  Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental.  As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike**_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Character Note: In case it gets confusing, here's a refresher cheat sheet:

Gambit: Remy LeBeau

Rogue: Anna Raven (as called in the latest X-treme X-men comics)

Beast: Henry 'Hank' McCoy

Archangel: Warren Worthington III

Wolverine: Logan

Storm: Ororo Munroe

Cyclops: Scott Summers

Jean-Grey: Jean Grey-Summers

Through the Years

Chapter Four: The Magnetic Pole of the X-men

After a few days in Valle Soleada, Beast headed back to New York.  He left Gambit and Rogue's house with the intention of returning after the wedding.  After all, they had an extra room and he wanted to monitor them for a little longer, just to be sure that the effects of Gambit's immunity were permanent.  Besides, he was going to house sit while Gambit and Rogue were on their honeymoon.  Gambit and Rogue decided to have an impromptu wedding at Xavier's mansion two months after they got engaged.  After all, they had been waiting for years for this day, why put it off any longer?  The timing seemed right also, for once, it seemed like most of their friends were either visiting the Mansion or in close enough proximity to swing by for the wedding.  The few that lived further were more than willing to attend this happy event.  The Institute just seemed appropriate for three reasons: 1) it was where they first met 2) most of the guests lived on that side of the country anyway 3) it was the first place either of them could truly call home.  Not wanting to copy Jean and Scott's outdoor ceremony, Rogue and Gambit decided to have it in a large drawing room that they both loved so much.  Each had secretly spent many nights in front of the fireplace pining after the other.  Rogue liked the fact that a large, elegant staircase was adjacent to the room, she had often dreamed about descending down those stairs to met Remy for some romantic reason or another.

"It's gonna be so hard for me t'keep my hands off of you, Chere," Gambit told Rogue as the taxi pulled onto the grounds of the Mansion.  Before Beast left their house to come back to New York, they had sworn him to secrecy about Gambit and Rogue being able to touch each other.  Obviously the other X-men knew that Gambit and Rogue both got their powers back, but they wanted to surprise everyone in person with their ability to touch each other.  "Perhaps Gambit better get what he can now," he said with a smirk as his hand reached across the taxi seat and around her back.

"Perhaps Gambit better start practicing right now," Rogue said with smile, shifting just out of reach.  "Besides, here comes the welcoming committee."  

Wolverine, Storm, Jean, Beast came out to the taxi to greet their friends.  Greetings were exchanged while luggage was unloaded from the taxi.  Beast carried the luggage inside while Rogue was swept away by Jean and Storm who led her into the house talking a mile a minute.  Wolverine went to sit on the steps while Gambit paid the taxi.  Once the cab pulled away, Gambit joined his friend on the steps and pulled out a cigarette.

"Who would have every thought that you'd settle down, eh Gumbo?" Logan said while lighting a cigar.

"Who said anyt'ing about settling mon ami,"  Gambit said while accepting a light from Wolverine.  "Der's no settling when love is involved."

The two men stood there and smoked in silence for a few minutes.  Gambit took a moment to look back at the Mansion.

"No matter what happens, it always seems like we're being pulled back to dis place.  I t'hought dat Magneto was de master of magnetism but it seems like dis old place has him beat, no?"

"You said it Remy, you said it."

While he sat on the steps Gambit talked with Wolverine about how much good luck played a role in his upcoming union with Rogue.  It was by chance alone that he happened to find himself in a position in which he could even marry her.  You see, Gambit was married once before to a woman named Belladonna Boudreaux.  The purpose of that union was to bring together their feuding Guilds, almost in a Romeo and Juliet style.  But like those fictional star-crossed lovers, Remy and Belle were ill-fated as well.  On the day of the wedding Belle's brother Julian challenged Gambit to a duel and Gambit seemingly killed him.  As a result he was banished in fear of the new and feeble peace being broken.  Many years and adventures later, Gambit would be reunited with his wife when the X-men helped save the Guilds from the Brood.  Belladonna was seemingly killed during the battle.  Some time later Gambit found out that Belle was in a coma but alive.  An epic adventure that involved securing the Elixir of Life in order to bring Belle out of her comatose state soon followed.  Julian was also alive as a result of the Elixir and an addiction to the formula pitted him against Remy.  In the end Julian was dead and Belle was given a small amount of Elixir that had to be rung out of the bed sheets.  She had no recollection of Gambit or their marriage.  Eventually her memories came back, only now she vowed to seek revenge on Gambit and Rogue.  This resulted in the death of Cody, the boy Rogue put into a permanent comatose state when she first discovered her powers while he kissed her. 

Although he knew all this already, Wolverine didn't mind hearing the story again.  The end result did leave him with a question.  Wasn't he still married to Belladonna?  Gambit when onto explain that shortly after Belle was brought back from her coma, her father clandestinely had an annulment of the union.  Belle didn't remember Gambit so she didn't mind signing the papers to get out of a union with a stranger.  Belle apparently forgot this fact when her memories came back, or her jealously of Rogue made her snap.  Either way, Gambit was unaware of the annulment until just after he lost his powers.  He and Rogue had been living in peace in California and his mind was constantly trying to find ways to ask her to marry him.  He knew his marriage to Belladonna could be an obstacle, so he enlisted the help of millionaire and fellow X-man, Warren Worthington III.  Warren's high priced lawyers looked for a way to quietly dissolve the marriage and found a rather interesting piece of information.  Belle's father, Marius, wanted Belle out of the marriage realizing that there could be no peace between the Guilds.  He had his amnesiatic daughter sign the papers and all that was needed was a signature from Remy.  He knew that Gambit loved Rogue and the annulment would be a thank-you for Gambit's efforts in saving Belladonna.  Marius died before he could find Gambit to give him the paperwork, but luckily it was secured in a bank vault in New Orleans, left with instructions to be signed by Gambit when he was found.  Warren's lawyers found a paper trail leading to the vault, had the paperwork sent to Gambit, and Gambit took the necessary measure carry out the annulment.  This left the ever-lucky Gambit free to marry his Rogue.

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Rogue stood with Jean and Storm in the center of the room that the wedding was to be held in.  An altar and wedding arch were constructed by the fireplace and flanked with flowers on both sides.  Chairs were carefully arranged in the center of the room.  Since the X-men and others who were invited knew both Gambit and Rogue, there was no "bride's side" and "groom's side," and as a result, there was no aisle per say.  A line of masking tape led from the stair case, around one side of the rows of chairs, and to the altar.  In two days this tape would be replaced with rose petals.  This was the path that Rogue was going to walk with her wedding party.

"Ah can't thank you girls enough for yoah help," Rogue said to Jean and Storm.  "This room looks gorgeous; there was no way that Ah could have planned all this without yoah help in this short amount of time."

            "Well Rogue, that's what bridesmaids are for," Jean said cheerily.  "Besides, you told us what to do; we just had to put all the pieces together."

            "We were just happy to help out," Storm added.  "You and Remy mean so much to us that we were honored you asked us."

            Jean continued, "After all, we only physically decorated the room and ordered the food for the reception.  You and Gambit picked the flowers and the food, and handled everything with the invitations."

Upon hearing the word invitations Rogue's mind flashed back to a particular dilemma she found herself in while making up the guest list.  During the planning process Rogue momentarily thought about inviting Mystique, after all for many years she had been a mother to her.  She even thought of inviting Magneto since they had a…well… unique relationship.  They weren't quite friends, but they had been there for each other during various times of need, for instance, when the Carol Danvers personality tried to take over her body completely.  Rogue then thought better of inviting either of them.  Even if she required a truce among all parties involved, she couldn't control the behavior of two known mutant terrorists, nor could she control the behavior of the X-men if they saw these enemies sitting among them during the wedding.  

Unbeknownst to Rogue, Gambit also had his own dilemma when it came to sending invitations.  He considered inviting Belladonna just to spite her since he legally wasn't married to her anymore, but he thought twice about it.  He certainly didn't want any trouble from his EX-wife at the wedding; he didn't even want to think about what stunt she was capable of pulling.  He then considered inviting Jean-Luc LeBeau and other members of the LeBeau clan and Tanti Mattie, but then decided against it.  He hadn't heard from any of them in years and frankly he didn't want word of his impending nuptials leaking out to his enemies back home.  The Thieves' Guild was the only family he had known for a good portion of his life, but the X-men had proven themselves time and times again to be more of a real family.

Storm's hand on her shoulder snapped Rogue back to reality.  "Come on Rogue, everything is taken care of, so now all you have to do is enjoy yourself."

            Jean added, "Since the rehearsal dinner is tomorrow night, and we'll see everyone then, tonight we're going to have a girls' night out!"

            "Jean, are ya hinting at a bachlorette party," Rogue asked with an inquisitive look.

            "Well, I do know for a fact that Scott, Logan, and the other boys are taking Gambit out for the evening, so we have to show them that we can have just as much fun. Right Ororo?"

            "Absolutely," the weather witch said with a smile.

            Rogue felt a smile creep across her face as she walked out of the wedding hall with her friends and into the unknown.

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**Author's Note:** I tried my best to explain Gambit and Belladonna's relationship using whatever information I could dig up.  Those events are owned by Marvel, except for the explanation as to why they were no longer married, that's mine.  If this has already been addressed by Marvel, I never heard anything about it.  Oh well!

**Tammy~ **Although all the X-men are currently absorbed with wedding planning, there is no telling what Beast will have in store later, especially if he is going to be a house guest in Valle Soleada for a while.

**Misa1124~** Thank you for your kind words :-) I hope that you continue reading the story and enjoy what my weird imagination cooked up.****

**Ishandahalf~ **A wizard you say?  Who knows?!  As long as it isn't Mr. Sinister, right? :-P I hear ya, I've always enjoyed hearing what Dr. McCoy has to say.  I mean he's smart enough to say whatever he wants on anything!  And if it is any consolation, I think Gambit and Rogue have had enough drama in their lives in the comics, so the dramatic music will hopefully be kept at a minimum.  But as with life, there always has to be some even if it is in small doses.

**T.~ **Glad that you are looking forward to the wedding, I know that Gambit and Rogue are too :-P

**Rogue151~** Wow, Rogue151, it's kinda scary how you read my mind about Mystique.  I am such a perfectionist; I couldn't leave an important detail such as Mystique's maternal relationship with Rogue, or Gambit's marriage to Belladonna unaddressed.

_Dear Readers:_

_Gambit and Rogue cordially invite you to share their happy day._

_When: Next Chapter_

_Where: Xavier's Mansion; __Westchester__, __NY___

_What's going to happen: That's anyone's guess_

Until next time!


	5. You're Invited to Attend

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student.  I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there.  Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental.  As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike**_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Five: You're invited to attend…

Rogue was awakened from her slumber by the feeling of familiar lips being pressed against hers. "Remy!  Ya ol' scoundrel!  Ya not suppose to be in here, ya know it's bad luck to see the bride before the weddin'!"

"Now you know I make my own luck Chere," the groom to be said with a wink.  " 'Sides, I t'ought dat tradition pertained t'seein' the bride in her dress, and from what I can see, you are wearing no dress, and if I had my way, you'd be wearing less than you are right now."

"Is that a fact Swamp Rat?  Well, as much as Ah'd love a little morning romp with ya, there's so much to do and so little time.  So go on now…" with that she gave him a gentle shove, which he of course exaggerated making it seem like she had used her super strength.

"Aw Chere wait!" Gambit said as he rolled out of the bed with a thump.  "I brought you some breakfast, see?"  He motioned to the tray that he left on the nightstand, an omelet, a glass of orange juice, some fresh pieces of fruit, lightly buttered toast, and a rose in a small vase were carefully placed on a familiar institute tray.  "Now, does dat change your mind?"  His red-on black eyes with a hint of mischief in them stared back at her.

"Remy, that's so sweet of ya!" Rogue said with a smile.  "But sorry shugah, as much as I love ya, I don't wanna see ya again today until we are at the altah.  Got it?"  Gambit silently got up off the floor and walked across the room.  With a gentleman's bow Gambit left the room via the window, despite the fact that he came in through the door.  Rogue shook her head and smiled at her Remy's flair for the dramatics.  With a deep breath and a glance at her wedding dress hanging on the closet door, Rogue picked up the tray, put it on her lap, and began to eat.

She recalled the events of the last few days.  The bachlorette party the female X-men had planned for her turned out to be one of the most entertaining evenings she had ever spent with the X-men.  They had taken her to a local bar not far from the mansion.  Just as the ladies had ordered their drinks and found seats, in walk the male X-men.  Storm, Wolverine, Jean, and Scott exchanged glances that read "What are you doing here??"  

Once the fact registered that both pre-wedding parties were planning on being there for the night the four of them began to speak at once making it hard to understand what any of them were saying.  Rogue did catch something from Wolverine along the lines of "Well yer suppose to be a psychic!"  That comment was directed at one visibly miffed Jean Grey.

Gambit and Rogue were unable to contain their laughter at the expense of their friends' lack of communication.  It turned out that the mix up was the best thing to happen to either party.  Music, dancing, drinks all around, and friends extended their congratulations to the happy couple.  Then someone noticed the karaoke machine on the stage and all hell broke loose!  It seemed as if nearly every member of the X-men tried his or her hand…er rather voice… on stage.  Jean, Rogue, and a barely-old-enough-to-drink Jubilee convinced Storm to join them in their own rendition of "Lady Marmalade."  Their performance received much praise and applause from the audience, especially the male members.  Then a visibly tipsy Robert 'Bobby' Drake, noted clown of the X-men, tried to convince Wolverine of all people to join him in their own rendition of the song, but he had to settle for singing Shania Twain's "Man I Feel Like a Woman" by himself since his Canadian friend seemed less than thrilled with the idea of getting on that stage.

Rogue polished off the last piece of toast and proceeded to munch on the slices of fruit Gambit cut and placed delicately on the plate and around the bread.  Her mind then drifted to the events of the previous night.  Last night was the rehearsal dinner.  It was just like the Bachelor/Bachelorette party, only a little more formal and a little smaller.  Rogue recalled standing at the top of the steps with her escort thinking about how much seeing Gambit at that altar the next day was going to mean to her.  It would mean that their love had truly overcome all the obstacles of the past and was ready to endure whatever was to come their way.  Once Gambit, Rogue, and the wedding party members ran through their placement and positions of few times, they joined a number of their other friends in the dinning room for some dinner and socializing.  The main topic of discussion, next to tomorrow's ceremony, was the antics of the Bachelor/ Bachelorette Party.  Bobby, unaware of his antics the previous night, laughed along with the others when he found out what he did stating that "Knowing me, I'd probably do that sober!"

Just as Rogue was finishing the orange juice she heard a knock at her door.  "Come in," she summoned.  Ororo Munroe made her way through the entrance.  She looked every bit the part of the African goddess that people made her out to be.  She was already wearing her mauve dress for the ceremony and her hair was done up in an elegant twist.  She was to be Rogue's maid of honor.  She was not only very close to Gambit, but Rogue felt a special attachment to her because she was one of the first X-men to truly trust her when she joined the team so many years ago.  It only seemed appropriate that someone with such a special relationship with the bride and the groom be asked to be the maid of honor.  Rogue smiled as she recalled Gambit's reaction when she told him that Storm was to be her maid of honor: "Lucky for you Chere dat you asked her first," he had said with a smirk.  "Cause if you didn't, I would have had Stormy be my best man!"  

Storm's voice brought Rogue out of her memory.  "I have come to see if you needed help getting ready for the ceremony," she said with the calmness that only Storm could muster when such a hectic day was ahead.  "I know that you must be overwhelmed with everything that's been going on and I wanted to make sure to do whatever it is that I can to ensure that you enjoy every moment of this wonderful day," she explained to Rogue.  

In fact it was a wonderful day, not only because of the fact that she would soon be married to her Remy, but because of a little atmospheric help from the local weather witch.  Since it was January and the wedding was being held indoors, both Gambit and Rogue had hoped to have the slightest bit of snow outside to accent the windows and make a truly spectacular "winter wonderland" for their pictures outside in the garden.  With a little help from Storm, they got their wish of a nice coating of snow, but only enough to make it pretty outside and not a traveling danger.  The fact that the garden was in full bloom despite being surrounded by snow was definitely aided by Storm's abilities, but the end result was truly breathtaking!

"Thanks 'Ro, Ah think Ah can manage putting on the dress and doing mah hair, but Ah will need help with the zipper and Ah'd appreciate the company," Rogue said putting the breakfast tray back on the nightstand and proceeding to get out of the bed and step into the day to begin all others.

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**    

This is it, the moment they had been waiting for.  Newly ordained as a priest, Kurt 'Nightcrawler' Wagner was thrilled when Rogue and Gambit had asked him to preside over the ceremony.  He stood at the altar by the fireplace.  Next to him stood a very debonair Remy LeBeau wearing a perfectly fitted tux.  His groomsmen were Bobby Drake, Hank McCoy, Lucas Bishop, and there was a space left open for the best man.  He would be arriving shortly.

As the first strains of music began to play a set of elegantly dressed women descended down the stair case.  Sage, Jubilee, Jean-Grey and Ororo Munroe came down the stairs carrying their flowers.  Each woman wore a form-fitting mauve dress and carried a collection of exotic flowers that only Storm could have managed to grow at this time of year.  They walked along the path of rose petals that had been marked by masking tape only hours before.  Finally, the bride and her escort made their way to the top of the staircase.  Before taking the first step down the stairs and to the altar Rogue looked around the room below.  She had entered this room so many years ago as a scared teenager.  She was trusted by no one and feared by most.  Over time she developed into one of the most reliable and dedicated members of this team… no… family.  After all, that's what everyone present was to her.  Some of the faces looking out at her were those who had been there since day one.  They watched her grow up to become the woman she was today.  Others, like Paint and Marie D'Ancanto, were new friends, people who eventually become part of her family.  Then she saw Remy, the one person who she trusted with her life and her heart.  If nothing else, he was all the family she ever needed.  Rogue looked to the man at her side, the one who was "giving her away."  That man had watched over her for nearly as long as she had been an X-man.  He taught her so much about life, he was the first person she told of her love for Remy.  When she and Gambit had been dying, he was willing to sacrifice his own life for hers.  If there was ever a father figure in her life, he was it.  She looked at him and gave his arm a squeeze, then she asked, "Ready Logan?" "Ready Darlin'," he said returning the squeeze.

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**    

Remy watched as the bridesmaids made their way to their side of the altar.  He couldn't wait to see Rogue, knowing that she would be beautiful, even if she decided to come down those stairs in sweatpants and a T-shirt.  He wasn't kidding.  The crowded stood and turned to see the bride descend the stairs with Wolverine.  She was truly a vision!  Her dress was reminiscent of the Victorian style.  It had a sheer neckline and loose flowing, sheer sleeves.  Avoiding a traditional white due to her pale complexion, she opted for a cream colored dress which accented her delicate white skin.  She wore delicate gloves that accented the dress nicely.  Her hair, which had grown long in the last few month, was loose and wavy over her shoulders.  She didn't were a veil, joking that the white steak was enough of a veil for her.  Everything about her seemed to glow and Gambit felt a smile creep across his face; he wanted nothing more than to run to her, take her into his arms, and tell her how much he loved her.  As Logan placed Rogue's gloved hand in Gambit's he looked at them both and said "Take good care of each other."  He then proceeded to take his spot as best man.

The ceremony proceeded without a hitch, although Kurt was getting a little nervous about the final part of the ceremony.   The wedding had been a bit of a surprise and he didn't really have a chance to review the final ceremony with the couple.  Even at the rehearsal the night before, the only went through the motions, not the entire ceremony itself.  It didn't even register that he should have asked the couple if they wanted him to omit the "kiss the bride part" but Gambit had slipped the ring over Rouge's gloved hand, perhaps he intended to kiss her hand as well?  He trusted that they realized that line was still in the ceremony, they HAD to know, right?  He couldn't believe that he was overanalyzing this small sentence in his head while Remy and Rogue said their vows to each other.  Kurt Wagner had been honored that they chose him to preside over the ceremony.  He couldn't think of any couple that he'd rather perform his first, of hopefully many wedding ceremonies, for.  Though she was technically his foster sister, Kurt had grown fairly close to Rogue time, and he looked forward to getting even closer in the future.  That was one goal he had for himself, after all, she was family.

All too quickly the end of the ceremony seemed to be in sight.  Any prior apprehensions about those six little words seemed to fly from his mind as Kurt kept his eyes on the couple before him and said "You may now kiss zee bride."  Remy reached for Rogue's hand and made like was going to kiss it, and with a wink from his bride, Remy swung her into a dip and planted a passionate kiss on her lips.  A gasp registered from the gathered friends, and when the kiss ended and the bride was firmly back on her feet, Nightcrawler couldn't help but exclaim, "You CAN kiss zee bride?!"  The priest quickly regained his composer and finished the ceremony. "I am honored and personally thrilled to present to you for zee first time Mr. and Mrs. LeBeau."  With that everyone gathered rose to their feet and cheered as loud as they could.  For Rogue and her husband, that was the best wedding present they could have asked for.

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**    

**Author's Note:**  Wow, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter.  I wrote this before chapter four and put in chapter four as an afterthought when I realized I can't really skip to the wedding without a way of showing how they got to the mansion.  That would be pretty silly and confusing after all.  As for Nightcrawler presiding over the ceremony, I'm pretty sure he would be allowed to wed Gambit and Rogue since Gambit had an annulment and not a divorce.  But I tend to be too technical and overanalyze things like that, so don't mind me:-P

**Tammy~ **Yeah, it would have been interesting to see Belle's reaction, but I think Gambit and Rogue rather liked having a drama free wedding, don't you?  However, that doesn't mean Belladonna's gone forever, after all what fun would that be *wink, wink for a possible future appearance of her, but don't hold me to it just yet, I haven't gotten that far to see if what I have planned is going to work**

**Isandahalf~** Trust me, I love seeing Gambit and Rogue happy too, I think that they have too much tragedy in the comics in terms of their relationship.  I'm not too fond of Belladonna either for the sheer fact that she was once married to Gambit and she wanted harm to come to him!  I greatly dislike Joseph for the sheer fact that he was competition for Gambit for Rogue's interest.  Luckily he's dead and I don't have to include him *does happy dance*.  Sorry, that was mean and uncalled for. *ashamed*  Anyway as for keeping the touching a secret until the wedding and freaking everyone out, I guess I'm too predictable, huh.  I read your comment and nearly fell out of my chair because I had done chapter five before chapter four so I found that pretty funny.

**Jukebox~** As you can see, no real wedding disaster in this fic, unless you count Bobby's singing at the party, haha.  As for them sharing a wound as a cause of the immunity, that's as good of a guess as any.  Out dear Dr. McCoy had a similar theory in Chapter 3 but he wasn't allowed to continue his pursuits at that moment.  Perhaps something will happen in the future that will answer this question ;-) *wink wink*  As for the Gestalt Arc, I can't say that I have read it.  Feel free to post the link so that everyone can check it out! :-)  I mean, who here doesn't enjoy a good X-men story!


	6. Surprises All Around

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student.  I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there.  Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental.  As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

**Part II**

Chapter Six: Surprises All Around

It had been a few days since Mr. and Mrs. LeBeau returned from their honeymoon.  Although Paris had been wonderful, Rogue was happy to be back home. She sat in their kitchen, sipped her morning cup of coffee, and took a look around the room.  "Home," she thought.  "There have only been two places that Ah've evah considered mah true home in mah entire life: this little house in Valle Soleada, California and Xavier's school in upstate New York.  And Remy's been there in both places.  Remy's mah home just like Ah am his."  The thought made her smile further.  Life couldn't get much better than this!

Lost in thought Rogue didn't even her Gambit sneak up behind her.  He put his arms around her and murmured in her ear "Whatcha t'inking about Chere?"  She turned to face him, stood up, and reply "About how much Ah love ya and how much Ah love our life."  With that she gave him a long kiss.  As they parted Gambit rubbed his hands up and down her arms and said "Isn't t'most beautiful mechanic in t'world goin' t'be late for work?"

"Ah could call out and say Ah'm sick," she said with a come-hither glance.

"Now Chere, you'd t'ink you'd be sick of Gambit after spending the entire honeymoon wit' him, no?  'Sides, you think the shop would appreciate you taking another day off after being out for three weeks?"

Rogue noted her husband's use of referring to himself in the third person.  It was an old habit and she know that he really only did it anymore when he had something up his sleeve or if he was trying to be clever.  His "roguish" habit she called it.  "If Ah didn't know any better, Ah'd think that ya were tryin' to get rid of me Swamp Rat.  But ya're right.  Ah should get going.  Ah might have to stay later, but hopefully not.  Ah'll call ya if Ah have to stay and help catch up on any overflow."  She kissed him again.  "Ah'll see ya tonight."  With that she pulled on her work shirt over her tank top and headed out the door.

"Later Chere!" Once she was out of earshot Gambit muttered to himself, "Now what would make you t'ink that dis thief was tryin' to get rid of you today.  Must be losing my touch."  He headed out to the shed to get his supplies.  He had a surprise to work on.

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On her way to the auto shop Rogue made a quick stop at the local pharmacy since they were out of aspirin.  While she walked down the aisle, aspirin bottle in hand, her eyes glanced over at the home pregnancy tests.  "When was the last time Ah had mah period?  Ah know it was just before the wedding."  Rogue calculated in her head that the wedding was three weeks ago and she last had her period a month before that.  Two months was unusual for her, she was the classic textbook 28 day cycle and she knew it.   She rationalized this in her head for a moment.  "Most likely delayed due to the stress on mah body because of the ol' powers coming back, and preparin' for the wedding, but could Ah be…" She didn't wait to finish the thought; she picked up a test and headed to the register.

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The guys at the shop were happy to have their Anna back.  Rogue smiled as she looked at the name embroidered on her work shirt.  Anna.  Anna Raven.  She needed a name and that was the first thing to pop into her mind.  She didn't even have a reason for it when Gambit asked her why she picked it.  It seemed to fit.  She knew that Raven came from Mystique's alias, but Anna?  Rogue couldn't think of a reason for that.  Beast analyzed that she probably picked it because it was such a common name and since she wanted to fit in, she subconsciously picked a name that wouldn't make her stand out.  But Rogue felt that perhaps there was a deeper meaning, in fact, she was sure of it.

"HEY ANNA!  Our ray of sunshine has come back to brighten our lives in this dingy garage!  Glad to have you back," one of the guys shouted, peering out from under a car.  "Thanks shugah!" she called out with a smile.  All the men at the shop were so pleasant to her, she felt like one of the guys with them.  She recalled the dilemma of deciding whether or not to tell them about getting her powers back.  She thought about it for hours the night Gambit proposed, the same night she got her powers back.  Valle Soleada was more or less tolerant to mutants these days, but she didn't want to jinx it.  Not while she life was so good now.  They knew she was a former mutant, that's all they needed to know.  She had worried that she'd have to make up some sort of excuse for her "new" way of dressing, covering as much skin as possible, but one of the guys solved that problem for her when he quipped: "Anna's not trying to seduce any of us anymore now that she's going to be a married woman; she's doing us a favor by not tempting us.  On behalf of the entire garage, I thank you for your concern my dear!  As long as you don't tempt us, then your soon-to-be hubby will have nothing to worry about."

She threw an oil rag at him and laugh, "Well just for that comment, mark mah words Shugah, Ah'll dress like this from this day forward."  She knew he was just joking but she was secretly glad he made the comment; it saved her from having to explain anything.

As much as she threw herself into her work, Rogue couldn't stop thinking about the pregnancy test sitting in the plastic bag in the car.  She even caught herself daydreaming every time a child's laughter or a baby's crying could be heard on the busy street outside the garage.  The minute it was time for her lunch, she proceeded to the car Warren had given her and Remy as a wedding present, got the plastic bag with the test in it, and made her way to the bathroom.

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Gambit stood in the kitchen looking at his handiwork.  "Rogue's gonna be thrilled when she sees dis," Remy thought with a smile.  She had wanted to fix the drawer long before their powers came back but Gambit had promised that he would do it himself.  It had just become one of those things that kept getting pushed off.  Since Rogue worked at the auto shop all day, he felt that it was only right for him to fix one simple little drawer.  After all, he could fix up his motorcycle, and naturally as a master thief, he was good with his hands.  Now that a good portion of the cabinet came out during that fateful day when Rogue got her powers back, Gambit had a little more to repair than just a stuck drawer.  Had he just fixed it when he was going to months ago before their powers came back… Oh well, this worked out better for him anyhow.  To surprise his bride he decided to redo the entire cabinet surface, something she had been hinting at wanting to do for a while now too.  Just as he was packing up his tools he heard the door open and he knew that he had to tell her his news.  She was going to love it!

"Remy!" "Rogue!"  They called to each other at the same time as they met in the living room.  "Ah have the most fantastic news!" Rogue said while she pulled off her gloves and laid them on an end table by the door.  "I don't t'ink it could top my news Roguie.  Let me go first, I can't wait!"

"Ok, Remy, but Ah don't think Ah can wait much longer to tell you mah news, Ah've been waiting since lunch!"

Gambit put his hands over Rogue's eyes and marched her into the kitchen.  With bravado "TADA!" he pulled his hands away and left her to marvel at the newly redone cabinets.

"Oh Remy, it's wonderful," she said as she pulled him in for a hug.  Ah can't believe ya did all this in one day!  Say, is this why ya seemed to push me out of the house this mornin'?" she said giving him a smirk.

With a mocking look of shock at the accusation Gambit exclaimed "CHERE!  I can't believe dat you'd t'ink I'd have to resort to sneaky measures!"  He leaned against the kitchen table, brushed a wisp of hair from his forehead and said cockily "So you t'ink your news can top this?"

"Ah wager that it just might.  Remy," she said as she took his hands in hers and looked deeply into his red-on-black eyes.  "Ah'm pregnant.  We're gonna have a baby!"

Gambit's eyes widened and he dropped into the chair next to him.  He seemed shocked as he processed the information "Mon Dieu, you won dat wager."  He jumped up from out of the chair picked Rogue up and twirled her around, "A baby!  Un bébé!!"  In a rapid succession of French, Gambit spat out the phrase "I'm going to be a poppa and you're going to be a momma!" or at least that's what it translated as to Rogue, he said it so fast that she wasn't sure.  What she was sure about was his overall happiness with the situation.  "Oh Chere!"  He kissed her with all the passion that was filling through his body!

When they finally parted Rogue stroked the stubbly cheek of her husband and started into his eyes.  Some people might find his eyes a bit disturbing, even a bit scary, but not her.  She thought his eyes were the most beautiful in the world and thought that their child would look adorable with them.  But only time would tell what combination of his or her parents traits he or she would have.  "Let's go tell Beast, Shugah!  Ah know that he'll be thrilled to hear the news," Rogue said as she took Gambit's hand.  Together they went to find their blue furry friend who had been feverishly analyzing research of some sort or another all day in the guest room that he had set up as a make shift lab.

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**Author's Note:**  I wanted to release this chapter 2 minutes after posting the wedding chapter!  I honestly couldn't wait to share!  It took a lot of self restraint to wait a few days to post this one:-P  Hopefully I'll have enough restraint to wait a few more days after this one to post Chapter Seven (it's sitting there taunting me):-P  Anyway, I hope that you liked the story so far!  I am having so much fun with it! :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** I'm so glad that you are reading my story! :-)  I liked Kurt's line "You CAN kiss zee bride?!" too.  I can just see him, and everyone else, being so shocked and speechless when they witness Gambit and Rogue's kiss after being under the impression that it was impossible for them to touch again.

**Tammy-** You're right, the comics HAVE to have a wedding for Gambit and Rogue already!  I mean they did have "The Wedding of Cyclops and Jean-Grey" (oddly enough that was the first comic that I ever bought along with the Wolverine issue and Spiderman issue that came out that same month.  The Spiderman one I picked up because it featured Gambit :-P)  Yeah, I hear you about Belladonna.  She's caused too much pain to both Gambit and Rogue. 

**Isandahalf- **YAY gold stars for me! :-)  Oddly enough I gave out gold stars to my education class the other day when it was my turn to teach a lesson.  But that's another story :-P  Don't be too surprised about predicting things with me, I'm a fairly predictable person, everyone I know tells me so:-P  As the for Bachelor/Bachelorette party, I can only hope that when the time comes, I have one that's just as much fun:-P  As for the honeymoon, I would have loved doing something great and fluffy with that, but Gambit and Rogue didn't want me tagging along, haha:-P  So I hope that you liked this chapter anyway.  Finally, I'll join you in the Joseph-haters club, haha:-P


	7. Good News and Bad News

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike**_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Seven: Good News and Bad News 

One look at Henry 'Hank' McCoy would prove to the unsuspecting that he truly lives up to his codename, Beast.  His strength and agility have proved time and time again to be great assets to the team.  But what one wouldn't expect is that his other strength, and perhaps the most important strength, isn't one of the physical, but rather that of the mental kind.  You see, this Beast has one of the greatest scientific minds on the planet.  Working in a make-shift lab in a Valle Soleada guestroom he was hard at work analyzing factors and trying to prove theories that would be too complicated for the average person to comprehend.  He was so enthralled with his work that he did even hear the knock at his door.

"Beast…..Beast…..Hank?  Is everything alright in there Shugah?" Rogue's voice called out to him diverting his attention from the task at hand.  Perhaps that's a good thing, if he had his way he'd never stop working on scientific matters and that could be unhealthy.  A nice break would be good for his brain anyway; it would clear his mind, leaving room for important breakthroughs once he could return to his studies.  

"Sorry Rogue, everything is fine just hard at work, but I can definitely use a break.  Come on in."  When Rogue and Gambit entered the room Beast couldn't help but notice the glow of sheer happiness coming from both of them.  If he didn't know any better he'd say that they won the lottery.

"Hank," Rogue started as she and Gambit sat on the edge of the bed that has been pushed to the side of the room in order to make space for various lab apparatus.  "Remy and Ah have something we want to tell ya.  We're goin' to have a baby!!!"

"Oh my stars and garters!" Beast's eyes grew as wide as saucers.  "Rogue, Gambit, I am so happy for you.  I…I….I  don't know what to say!"

"Well that be a first eh mon ami?"  Gambit quipped.

Beast collected his thoughts and then asked "Are you sure?"

Well," Rogue said, "It was just one of those home pregnancy tests, say they are 99.9% accurate and all that, but Ah'd reckon Ah'm pretty sure.  But that's what Ah wanted to ask ya.  Could ya give me a more definitive test?

"I think that can be arranged, I more than likely have all the necessary tools here to create an accurate test, not to mention some of my supplies on the mini jet so carefully concealed in your back yard.  I'd prefer it if we had some of the Shi'Ar technology that I have in my lab back at the mansion, but I can at least give you a yes or a no answer from here.  Then maybe at a future date we can make a trip back to the mansion and I can give you more details about your pregnancy." Beast said, hardly allowed himself room to breath let alone for anyone to get a word in edgewise.  Anything that involved scientific inquiry left him as happy as a clam.

"That'll be fine Hank," Rogue said with a smile.  "Now, Ah'm going to change out of these dirty work clothes and take a nice, long shower."  Rogue couldn't stop smiling as she made her way to the bathroom.

"Ok Chere, and I'm goin' t'make us a meal fit for a king t'celebrate," Gambit said making his way to the kitchen.

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**    

Dinner was exquisite, as always when the Cajun made one of his famous dishes.  A first glance at Gambit reveals someone charming, handsome, and a bit on the dangerous side, but one would never suspect that he was such a terrific cook.  Every now and then, he would flip through channels, come across Emeril and say "BAM mon ami, one day, I show you how it's done!"  Rogue often teased him telling him that if he thought he could out cook the television chef, then he should make his way to the studio and do so.

Just before dinner Beast handed Rogue a plastic cup and she knew what to do with it.  After dinner Beast analyzed the sample, and they had the results they had been waiting for.  Rogue was indeed pregnant!  This was news that they couldn't wait to tell the others.  That night the phone in the LeBeau household was buzzing with the happy news as Gambit and Rogue called all their friends.

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

A few weeks later all of America was enthralled with a story on the evening news.  For those in Valle Soleada it was the 6pm news and for those in New York it was the 10pm news.  Apparently scientists had been working on technology that could be used to detect the X-gene with a simple body scan was being perfected.  Currently only a blood test could detect the X-gene, and that could be time consuming, not to mention the fact that many people aren't going to willingly give their blood to a stranger.  Many anti-mutant groups hoped to one day use the technology to weed out the "normal" looking mutants from mainstream society.  However, it would be years before the technology was ready for something of that scale.  The announcer made the point of saying that tests have not been done on people yet but trials were successfully complete on mice injected with the gene.  To lighten the somber mood at the mansion Bobby quipped, "Mutant mice?!  That's absurd!  If they were going to do something like that they should have used turtles at least, I mean what were they thinking?"  Even though he made the joke, everyone in the room could tell that the effort to make it was strained and that he was just as worried as everyone else about what this technology could do.

In the LeBeau house Gambit, Rogue, and Beast were sitting in the living room watching the same announcement.  Gambit wanted to know why something like this was coming out now when human-mutant relations were at a stalemate.  Things weren't perfect, but no serious altercations had happened lately.  It was a strained peace, but peace none the less.  Beast reassured a worried looking Rogue that the Shi'Ar technology that the X-men had was much more powerful and could already scan a person for the X-gene if programmed right.  He stated that it would be many, many years before regular Earth science could come up with that kind of scanning power.  The final point he made is that the technology the news anchors were talking about could only scan "ordinary" mutants, not Alpha mutants like most of the X-men.  Although this helped ease some of Rogue's worries, she didn't like the idea that those without the most advanced powers could become vulnerable to these hatemongers in the relatively near future.  After all, if it was only a matter of years before anti-mutant groups could detect the least powerful mutants, so how long would it be until they could detect powerful mutants like her and Gambit?

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

The morning after the news announcement Rogue was getting ready for work as usual.  Gambit was preparing breakfast, and Beast was finishing up a few experiments.  He was going back to New York at the end of the week, and the LeBeau's couldn't wait to start converting the guestroom into a nursery.  Rogue stood close to a full-length mirror in the bedroom and pulled her long wavy chestnut brown hair into a pony tail making the white stripe in her hair seem even more prominent.  She noted that her hair hadn't been this long in years; she liked it that way.  It had been like that when she and Remy first started all their flirting together so many years ago.  Normally she liked to leave it loose, cascading over her shoulders and down her back, but it was easier working in the auto shop with hair that was pulled back and out of the way.  Rogue took a few steps back and looked in the mirror again, a slim, curvaceous figure smiled back.  She knew that pretty soon that slim figure would have a belly the size of a watermelon.  That thought made her smile too mostly because it was funny in a way.  It was something she couldn't picture, especially after all the years of wearing the skin tight X-men uniforms.  What did Bobby Drake always say about it?  "So snug and skin tight that it's amazing you don't pass out putting it on, let alone fighting in it.  Forget Magneto, Mr. Sinister, and the others, more X-men are defeated by their uniforms than any villain!"  Of course, he was teasing, they only looked uncomfortable.  The uniforms were designed for movement, protection, and comfort.  She almost missed putting that outfit on.  Whenever she wore it, she knew she was going to save the world.  "Saving the world," she thought, "Such a large task foah a former small-town southern gal, such a large task foah anyone foah that matter."  

She was almost ready to go to the kitchen for breakfast, but something that morning made Rogue stop short.  It was a familiar feeling, she didn't know exactly how to describe it, but it wasn't the first time she felt it.  No, rather she had experienced this feeling many times throughout her life, and it could only lead to trouble.  Only this time, something was different.  "Remy!  Hank!  REMY!!!" she screamed before collapsing on the bed. 

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**    

**Author's Note:**  I wanted to release this chapter 2 minutes after posting the wedding chapter!  But I managed to make myself wait a more reasonable time frame.  Besides, it gave me time to work on "Right Side of Wrong" a one-shot songfic that I came up with in my friend's car.  When it actually came to the writing process, that story was tricky because it involved making Gambit married to Belladonna, EW!  Oh well, it's always good to step outside your comfort zone as a writer once and a while.  Now on to you guys….

**Ishandahalf~ **Now I am sure you can dig up more than just us two as Joseph-haters, and I am all for a tree house, somehow I think it will need a moat! :-P  You kinda scared me a bit when you said "SO! loved it, AGAIN. when do i not? well, i might not if you cause something HORRIBLY horrible to happen, but you wouldn't do that, right?" But don't worry if bad things do happen, good things will eventually overcome them.  After all, I am an optimist and I don't want to make Gambit and Rogue suffer too much because they always have a lot of drama.  But a little drama is necessary for the story so bear with me.  I promise in this story there will always be light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark.  Now I better silence myself before I give away too much info :-P

**Star-of-Chaos~** YAY!  Another Joseph hater!!!!! :-P  See that ishandahalf, I told you there were more! :-)

**T~** Glad that you loved it! :-)

**Tammy~** Don't worry, I'll be posting soon.  I really want to see the reaction to the next bunch of chapters so I'll probably end up posting them faster than I should. But I don't want to overwhelm everyone with multiple chapters in a row, so I'll try to be good :-P

**Rogue151~ **Hehe, yeah everyone seems to like that line from Nightcrawler! :-P****


	8. “All t’family I need…”

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike**_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Eight: "All t'family I need…"

How could this have happened?  Well Rogue knew how this happened, her body preyed on the fetus like a parasite until there was nothing left.  Her own powers caused the little life that had been growing inside of her to wither away before it even had a chance.  Although everyone kept telling her that it was not her fault, she still felt responsible.  After all, her powers caused this.  The feeling that she felt before passing out was the familiar one of her powers draining the life force out of something, the only difference was she didn't receive any powers or memories because none existed in the little being.  But she couldn't pull away from it the way she did when she touched someone because it was a part of her. 

When Hank told her and Gambit what had happened they were crushed.  Rogue had so many questions.  Why had this happened?  Didn't her powers only work with skin to skin contact?  Would she ever be able to have a child?  Beast didn't have any answers for them, at least none they wanted to hear.  He couldn't tell them why this had happened.  It was just one of those things that you didn't think about until it happened.  As for her powers working only with skin to skin contact, he could only hypothesize that her powers weren't limited to contact from outside her body, but included contact inside as well.  That answered one question Beast had about Gambit's immunity to Rogue's powers.  Gambit was definitely the one who was able to touch Rogue for whatever reason.  He was somehow negating her powers because if Rogue had been subconsciously controlling her powers then this probably wouldn't have happened.  That's it!  When Gambit and Rogue were near death at the hands of Vargas, they shared a connection so strong that no one else could break.  Rogue wasn't able to break away from the beam the held Gambit down because she had imprinted him at various points in time.  Every time she absorbed him, a bit of "Remy residue" stayed in her.  When she came in contact with Vargas' beam, it was as if she was genetically a part of him.  The beam recognized both the DNA in Gambit and Rogue as one in the same; as a result, they were somehow linked.  Beast knew that's why the beam held Rogue down as well, despite it being programmed for Gambit's DNA, but he never realized that the beam maybe have caused this sort of after effect.  When Gambit asked him to clarify the point Beast equated it to the way weak or dead viruses are used to make one immune to certain diseases.  The beam somehow was used to make Gambit immune to Rogue.  That's probably why they lost their powers in the first place; some sort of overload had resulted in their powers short-circuiting.  When their powers returned, the after effect left Gambit immune to his wife's powers.  Rogue was probably equally immune from a kinetic blast from Gambit as well.  The fact that they had been mentally linked at the moment of death probably played a role in their special connection as well.  Of course as always he'd need to run more tests, but now wasn't a good time.  There would be time for that in the future.  Rogue's final question broke his heart.  Would she ever be able to have a baby, he had to assume that this meant no.  He couldn't fathom any child being about to survive the nine month duration in her womb.  This little one barely made it past two months.

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

Rogue was inconsolable.  She spent the past few days in bed after calling in sick from work.  Why did this have to happen?  She and Remy had been having such good luck lately.  They could touch each other, they got married, they had the most wonderful honeymoon in Paris, they were going to have a baby together, and then their luck ran out.  She was married to a LeBeau and LeBeau luck was never suppose to run out, especially not Gambit's!  She could never have a baby!  She saw the look on Remy's face when she told him the positive results of the pregnancy test.  He wanted to be a father more than anything.  He'd be good at it too.  Children responded well to him, there was just something about him.  She was crying so hard that she didn't even hear Gambit come in the room.

Gambit looked at his wife.  It wasn't long ago that they had been in a similar situation.  It was almost déjà vu.  About half a year ago Rogue had been sitting on her bed crying because she had gotten her powers back and she was afraid that she'd lose Gambit as a result.  But she hadn't and they got through that.  Gambit just hoped that he knew what to say this time to make her feel better.  He put his arms around her and didn't say a word.

She looked up at him, her emerald green eyes red and puffy from crying.  "Oh Remy, Ah'm, so sorry," she whispered.  "Ah wanted to have this baby foah us so badly.  Ah know how much ya loved this child from the minute Ah told ya the news."

"It's not your fault Rogue," Gambit told her.  He just wanted her to stop blaming herself.  Of course he was thrilled with the news of having a baby.  He couldn't think of a better way to express the love that they had for each other.   "Sure dis baby meant a lot t'me, I can't deny dat, but _you_ mean more t'me.  _You_ are all t'family I need."

Rogue took one look into his red-on-black eyes and knew that somehow everything would be ok.  It would be difficult getting over this obstacle, especially for her.  But once she stopped blaming herself, she knew that everything was going to be alright.  "Ah love ya Remy LeBeau," she murmur as she hugged him.  He stroked her back of her head, letting her fluffy hair flow through his fingers.  "And I love you Rogue "Anna Raven" LeBeau, banana fana, gee Chere, you got any more names I can throw in dere?"

She looked at him as he said that, noticing his cheeky smirk and laughed for the first time in what felt like forever.

***~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**

**Author's Note- **YIKES!  I know this chapter was a bit of a downer!  But fear not, the genre is General/Romance, so I will try to keep drama at a minimum; just enough to keep the story interesting.  I know the loss of baby LeBeau will disappoint a lot of you, but I hope that you will continue to read and understand why it happened (so tempted to just post the next 4 chapters this minute so this can be resolved)  I wanted to thank you all again and tell you how much this means to me that you have taken time out of your busy lives to let me know that you are reading something I wrote, it really means a lot to me :-)

**Ishandahalf~** See what I told Star-of-Chaos (see below) for Joseph-haters club info:-P  You'd think that after 30+ years of comics that mutants and humans would get along, but no, of course not.  Oh well, I guess that is the same as any type of drama in the world today.  Speaking of drama, there's quite a bit in this chapter, but like I said, I don't like Gambit and Rogue drama, so it will be kept at the minimum.

**Star-of-Chaos~ **Good point with the acid:-P  Perhaps acid that only affects Joseph lovers? :-P  You are right though, nothing can happen with Rogue or Gambit for that matter without some sort of drama.

**Tammy~** Well, like Beast said, so far the technology doesn't work on people yet, and the only mutations it detects are not Alpha mutants like Gambit and Rogue (I read that term in a comic once, I wish I could find it so I can cite it or give better info).  But who knows what the future will bring…

**VinGirl~** Thanks for reading my story :-)  Despite its continuous ups and downs I hope you'll continue to think that it is a great story

**RealityDreamer~ **Hey, I don't doubt for a second that a keyboard and a mouse would hurt!  I mean I have a laptop so there's no mouse, but the keyboard would definitely hurt since it is attached to the whole computer!  I'm glad that my story makes you smile, despite its ups and downs (mostly ups because I don't like downs) I hope it continues to make you smile.  You made me smile too because I see that you added this story and me to your favorites lists and you are the first person ever to do that, so it totally made my day! :-)  I feel very honored that you added me :-)

**T~** Thanks for reviewing T! I hope you continue to love it! *fingers crossed* :-)


	9. Family Gatherings

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

**Part III**

Chapter Nine: Family Gatherings

After her talk with Remy, Rogue found the strength to go back to work.  She had to go.  Not for economic reasons, Destiny had certainly left her enough money as an inheritance, but she loved what she did.  If anything could help her get back into her daily routine, it was working at something she loved.  The guys at the auto shop were saddened by the news of the miscarriage.  The boss even told her to take a few more days off, but she insisted on starting up again right away.

Life eventually went on as usual for the LeBeaus.  Hank went back to New York after Rogue was doing better, Rogue worked at the auto shop all day and Gambit made an effort to do better around the house.  In fact, for the first time in a long time, life was actually normal for Gambit and Rogue.  They were just two newlyweds who went about their daily lives, no signs of anything out of the ordinary.

The months came and went fairly uneventfully.  Thanksgiving was spent at the Mansion with many of their friends.  Both Gambit and Rogue secretly said thankful prayers for having each other, for their friends' safety, and being together for the holiday.  During the meal the conversations were as lively as always.  Bobby made one joke after another, some met by laughter and others by groans.  Jubilee talked non-stop about the adventures she was having in college.  The Professor had encouraged her to expand her horizons beyond life at the Mansion, so the young woman had started college a few years ago.  Now at 21, she was nearing graduation and planned to become an instructor at the Institute.  Jubilee couldn't imagine herself in command of a class, and up until more recently, neither could anyone else.  But she had proven herself time and time again to be a responsible adult.  Of course, the mutant scanning technology was a hot topic of conversation around the Thanksgiving turkey despite the fact that it hadn't made headlines in months. 

"It's ironic to think that this technology comes as a blessing to some humans and a curse to all mutants," Beast mentioned during dessert.  "As Ralph Waldo Emerson said 'To different minds, the same world is a hell, and a heaven.'"

"Oui mon ami," Gambit nodded in agreement while passing the plate of cookies, "but as Jean-Paul Sartre said 'Hell is other people' and t'mutant haters are creatin' our own personal Hell."  The other people at the table starred at their friend for a minute, no one thought of Gambit to be the type of person who was familiar with the works of Existentialists such as Sartre.  He noted them staring at him, "What," he said with a smile, "Gambit not allowed t'read big books like Beast?"  Rogue had to keep herself from laughing; she knew exactly what Gambit wasn't telling them.  She always encouraged her husband to tell the others his secret but she knew he had to do that when he felt the time was right.

But even Gambit's surprising knowledge of Existentialist works wasn't the most talked about event around the Thanksgiving table.  After dinner Jean-Grey and Cyclops made an announcement.  They were going to have a baby!  They had known since earlier in the month, but they wanted to wait until everyone was gathered before sharing the news.  Her due date was in July.  Everyone congratulated them on their happiness, but Gambit knew that hearing their friends' announcement was killing Rogue.  She hugged Jean and Scott and expressed happiness, but Gambit knew that if the news of their friend's baby made him a bit jealous and sad, then it must be tearing Rogue apart.

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Just as Thanksgiving was over, the weeks of holiday gift shopping commenced and before Rogue could call Gambit "Swamp Rat," Christmas had arrived.  For Christmas, Wolverine, Iceman, Storm, Beast, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Jean-Grey, Cyclops, and Professor Xavier spent the holidays in Valle Soleada.  Jubilee was probably the most excited about getting away from all the snow in New York, and spending the holidays basking in the sun instead of shoveling snow.  Wolverine reminded her that she never shoveled anyway; rather she used her pyrotechnic powers to melt the snow whenever it was her turn to be part of the snow removal crew.  He also said that if he really wanted a white Christmas like what he was use to from his homeland of Canada, he could probably convince Storm to give him a hand with that.  Whenever he saw Jubilee grab her towel and suntan lotion he would tease her by telling her that he was going to have Storm make it snow on the beach.  The constant bustle of activity kept everyone busy and happy.  Food was devoured, cards were sent, gifts were exchanged, but nothing beat the gift of love and friendship that filled the walls of that little house on the beach in Valle Soleada.

The mutant scanning technology still had not made any advancements since its initial announcement in March, but that did not stop Professor X, aka Charles Xavier, from thinking about the future.  Because of the impending threat of anti-mutant groups gaining DNA scanning technology, he wanted to set up an actual school system on the Institute grounds.  Many outspoken anti-mutant leaders, especially those involved with the Friends of Humanity which was the largest, most bigoted anti-mutant group of all, were lecturing about how with this technology they would one day be able to eradicate the "mutant threat from all aspects of daily life."  Those words stung the X-men: how were mutants a threat to daily life, all they wanted was to be left alone to live out their lives just like everyone else?  Buzz around Washington DC and other places of power suggested that the scanning technologies, once perfected, would be used in school systems to prevent mutant children from receiving an education.  It was easier for these groups to weed out children than risk going head-to-head with full grown adult mutants, such as the X-men.  When that time came, Charles Xavier wanted to make sure that the children barred from a regular education had someplace to go. 

The Professor made a passionate speech at the table during Christmas dinner on this subject: "It is imperative for them to be educated.  If the regular public school system could find a way to prohibit mutant children from receiving an education, then we HAVE to be ready for that.  If we are to be ready for that, we must have a plan of action NOW, before it is too late.  It is our duty to not only educate young mutants about their powers, but feed their minds as well."  His idea was to expand the operations of the Institute into an entire enclosed school system.  Since the original concept of the Institute was that of a school for "gifted youngsters," a diploma from Xavier's School was as legitimate as a diploma from any other school.  Why not find away to expand operations from a small training facility to larger private school system for mutant children?  This was very close to the original concept of the school, but with a small catch; not all the children in the school would be X-men, at least if they did not want to be.  Young mutants could just attend the school if they felt uncomfortable in a regular, predominantly non-mutant school system. 

All the X-men who lived in and near the mansion were ready to start the ball rolling.  He already had enough X-men to serve as teachers, now it was just a matter of seeing who was certified to do what.  After all, Xavier did not want to lose operations of the school if word leaked out that unqualified teachers were giving instruction, whether he fell under private school status or not.  Xavier was ready to go above and beyond with this project.  Both he and Hank had PhDs in genetics, perfect for any advance science instruction; there was no questioning their credentials.  Over the years some of the other X-men had gone to college, many had never completed their studies due to their superhero activities, but a number of them did hold degrees.  Xavier's plan was that since it would take a few years to get the school where he wanted, he would have any of the X-men interested in teaching go back to school and receive the necessary training.  When the day came that mutant haters prevented young mutants from going to school, Xavier would be ready for them, and all bases would already be covered.  Knowing that mutant powers didn't usually manifest until puberty, the bulk of the students would be between the ages of 13-18 or mostly high school aged kids.  This age range was younger than that of most of the X-men when they came to the Institute.  Most were in their late teens and early twenties when they first came to the school.  Of course there were exceptions, Rogue was 15 when she left the Brotherhood to join Xavier and Jubilee had been younger still.  Xavier asked Gambit and Rogue to come back to join their mission in New York, but the LeBeaus has turned the offer down, despite the Professor's offer to pay for any college classes necessary.  Rogue said that the offer was very generous, and Gambit's face revealed some sort of expression that Xavier couldn't decode.  No one saw this look but Xavier and he planned to corner the Cajun about it later. 

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**Author's Note- **Wow, I thought that people might stop reading this story after the last chapter.  I was afraid that no one would give it a chance to continue to build and eventually explain things.  So thanks for sticking with me! :-)  I'd like to thank you all again for reading this, it really means a lot to me:-)

**T-**Yeah, I can't imagine them not being there for each other either, especially after surviving all the other drama they've seen in the past.

**Tammy-** Well Beast is one of the most brilliant scientific minds of all the X-men, at least in my opinion, so you never know if he might come up with something… ;-)

**Star-of-Chaos- **EEK!  Don't mind me; I am hiding from your glare :-P  That "Remy residue" phrase came out of nowhere, I really don't know where in my brain that came from.

**Ishandahalf****-** Ok, magic acid it is!  So we have a few members, a tree house, and a moat with magic acid.  Sounds good to me!:-) And since I am hiding from Star-of-Chaos's glare, I am also hiding from your threatening shaking fist!  Also, I am glad I was able to lift the mood a bit in the last chapter, I couldn't just leave it all depressing like that, it would be too sad!  And I can totally see Gambit doing something like that with the names, he seems like the type of guy to do anything he can to make his Rogue feel better.


	10. Matters of Trust

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike**_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Ten: Matters of Trust

It wasn't hard for the Professor to find Gambit alone after Christmas dinner.  Gambit had stepped out onto the porch for a cigarette break after dessert.  The Professor's hoverchair was virtually silent and most people wouldn't have known that someone was standing…er… sitting right behind them.  However, it was Gambit's job to know everything that happened around him, the years had taught him to never be off guard.  In fact, Rogue was probably the only person who could sneak up on him, although most of the time he let her.  But she knew him well enough to get the upper hand sometimes.  

"Can I help you," Gambit asked with his back to Xavier.

"I'm not exactly sure what it is Gambit, but there is something that you aren't telling me," said the Professor.

"Well you know how t'get any information you want mon ami," Gambit said while turning to face the bald man.

"You know that I don't believe in using my powers to invade anyone's thoughts."

"Den how you know I got somethin' to hide," he asked while exhaling the smoke.

The Professor's cheeks reddened at the accusation. "I'm sorry Gambit, I can't always help it when my powers automatically get to work when I feel something's up.  I didn't read any of your thoughts; I just got a feeling that you were hiding something, that's all.  Something about the expression you made when I offered you and Rogue jobs at the school triggered a reaction for me."

"Doesn't matter, you wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway," Gambit dropped the cigarette to the ground and rubbed it out with his foot.

"What's that suppose to mean"

"You know what it means."

"No Gambit, I don't."

"Wouldn't matter anyway if I told you, you wouldn't believe me.  Nobody truly believes me, or trusts me for dat matter.  Everyone just t'inks dat I'm some dumb t'ief," Gambit couldn't believe what he just said.  That came out of nowhere; after all it didn't have anything to do with what the Professor said.  But the fact that the Professor accused him of something brought back old feelings.  He thought that he had gotten through all this years ago, but he hadn't.  Just a simple question about Gambit hiding something was enough to put him on the defensive.  He knew the Professor wasn't questioning his loyalties, but any hints of suspicion had put Gambit on edge.  

 Powers or no powers, Xavier must have sensed Gambit's growing anger, "You are partially right.  Although we have all gotten to know each other over the years, you constantly remain a mystery.  But you have proven yourself time and time again to be a valuable member of this team, a trusted member of this team.  Despite all our differences, I would trust you with my life."

Those words resonated in Remy Lebeau's ears: "I'd trust you with my life."  The most powerful telepath in the world would put his life in the hands of a thief from the Big Easy.  Part of Gambit was still upset at the team leaving him in Antarctica; he knew that Rogue had no control over her thoughts, after all she was being persuaded by the self- hating feelings she absorbed from Gambit.  But why didn't the others do anything to help him?  What excuse did they have?  Why did they leave him?  After all, not one of the X-men could say that they never did something that they weren't proud of.  Xavier himself was Onslaught for goodness' sakes!  But they didn't trust him enough as a team mate and they left him in that frozen wasteland to die.  And yet, the Professor just said he was willing to trust him. 

"You'd trust me wit' your life?"

"We all would Remy."

Gambit knew that it was time to let go of the grudge once and for all.  That was a long time ago, everyone had apologized for leaving him there and he had said that he forgave them, but perhaps now it was time to forgive them once and for all inside his heart.  He thought about his wife for a second, up until recently she had been in a state of peace that he had never seen her at before.  The reason was because she had decided to just "let go" of all the emotional baggage that had been plaguing her for so long, especially those feelings that had to do with her inability to touch others.  Sure, she still couldn't touch anyone besides Gambit, and that had even cost them their unborn son or daughter, but she was slowly dealing with that too.  Gambit decided that perhaps it was time for him to deal with his inner demons that made him think he was an unwelcome member of the team, thoughts that he had concealed inside himself since the day he joined the X-men.  After all, he had nothing to hide anymore that would make the X-men hate him.  If they could forgive him from leading the Marauders into the Morlock tunnels all those years ago, then nothing could ruin those bonds of loyalty.  It was now time to let go of the suspicions he thought his teammates harbored.  He was, and forever will be an X-man.  

"T'anks Professor," Gambit smiled at the Professor's statement, and he didn't need to say anything else for Xavier to see that something was suddenly different.  The Professor didn't need his powers to sense that Gambit had just come some sudden realization of peace.  He didn't know what had been plaguing the Cajun, but it seemed as if their conversation helped eased whatever worry he had.

"So mon ami," Gambit said with a smirk, "You want an answer to t'original question?"

"Only if you feel like sharing."

"Ok, but you aren't goin' to believe me.  If you want t'answer, you know how to get it."

"Gambit, I don't want you to feel like I have to use my powers to get an honest answer…"

"No, it's ok, I trust you mon Professeur."

Xavier saw that Gambit wasn't telling him to use his mental powers to force an answer; rather, Gambit was showing his trust by letting the Professor enter his thoughts so he could see what caused Gambit to make the face he did when the Professor offered him the chance to go to college and teach at the Mansion.  So Xavier established the psychic link and……….

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Two days after Christmas Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Jean-Grey, Cyclops, and Professor Xavier headed back to the Institute.  Beast stayed behind at the LeBeaus because he had a meeting with some scientist friends from a California university right after New Years.  Since the others were all heading back to New York, Bobby teased that they just wanted to celebrate the New Year a few hours before Gambit and Rogue did.  Most of the X-men in the Blackbird were laughing and reliving various scenes from the past few days.  Nightcrawler and Wolverine noticed that the Professor had been fairly quiet during the trip.  Every now and then he'd take down some thoughts in the notebook that recorded his plans for the Institute, but for much of the trip he sat fairly pensive.  

"Hey Chuck, ya wanna tell us what's going on," Wolverine said making his way over to the Professor.

"Is everything alright," Nightcrawler reiterated.

"Oh no, everything is fine Logan, Kurt.  I was just thinking about how just when you think you know someone, something happens to change your perception…"

"What do you mean Professor," Nightcrawler asked.

"Did either of you know that Gambit graduated from Yale?"

When he said that both Wolverine and Nightcrawler thought the same thing, "I wouldn't put it past him."  They knew that there was much more to the Cajun that meets the eye.  So it would come as no surprise to them that Gambit attended an Ivy League school for a number of years after being banished from New Orleans, but before becoming involved with Mr. Sinister and the Marauders.  He had to be doing something during the years before he joined the X-men, so that was as good of an explanation as anything.  The look Gambit gave the Professor in reaction to his offer to educate him was because Gambit knew he didn't need the offer.  Not unless he wanted another degree in addition to the two he already held in literature and psychology. It made perfect sense; Gambit would never cease to amaze them.  No matter how well they thought they knew the mysterious man from New Orleans, something would happen that proved to them that they really didn't know him at all!

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**Author's Note-** Got the idea for this chapter a few years ago after reading an X-men novel someone gave me.  In the novel there was a scene in which Beast was quoting something and Gambit quickly dismissed and went off on this tangent about how the philosopher who said it really didn't know what he was talking about and cited various examples to prove his point, thus shocking the X-men.  Ever since then I believed that Gambit knew more than he let on, so I wanted to incorporate that into my story.

**le_bibliothecaire~** HI! :-) So nice to meet you!  Thanks for sticking with me!  Glad I didn't scare you or anyone else off :-P

**Star-of-Chaos~ **Wow, I never thought about a west coast school, but that is a good idea (smells future fanfic coming)  Hey, if you ever wrote about a West Coast school I'd definitely read it!:-)  I do hope that you will like what I cooked up for this though, I think you will ;-)

**Ishandahalf~** Nah, your fist shaking didn't scare me off, though I was afraid of scaring all you off with the drama that unfolded there, but since it didn't, I think we can all breathe a little easier now:-)  Xavier does deserve those gold stars you gave him; after all, he's been trying to get mutant equality for how many years now?  (I know it's over 30 years our time, but it's still going to be a lot of years X-men time too)  Don't worry, any girls that ever drool over Remy would have to face the wrath of Rogue, she can take anyone! :-)

**T~ **I know, it is wonderful to see everyone together and relatively happy.  It just makes their fight for equality all the sweeter!

**Tammy~** Well, now you know what Gambit's look meant, just a little glimpse into a side of Gambit that he rarely shows.  As for Jean's baby being Rachel (or Cable or any other dimension/ reality baby that you want to throw in there that either Jean or a clone had) I do plan to address that later, so stay tune! :-)

**Lady Armandina~** Wow, your words really meant a lot to me!  Thank you so much! :-)  I'm so honored; I don't know what else to say! :-)


	11. One Year Anniversary

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Eleven: One Year Anniversary

Before they knew it, it was January, and Gambit and Rogue were planning on celebrating their one year anniversary quietly at home. Since he was houseguest yet again, Beast knew to make himself scarce for the evening, opting to work on some experiments at a local university with a scientist buddy. While Rogue was at work Gambit cooked up some of his famous gumbo and set up a romantic table for two on the back porch overlooking the beach. While he was cooking he thought about the conversation he and the Professor had at Christmas. Gambit was glad that he laid his worst fears about his teammates to rest, and that he had even revealed his most guarded secret. He had been scared that the others would treat him differently if they knew how accomplished he was academically, he did not want them to see him as anything other than what he had proved himself to be: tough, loyal, and of course charming. Now that he knew that he wasn't going to receive any different treatment, he was able to relay the entire story. After being banished from New Orleans he had needed somewhere to hide out and what place better to hide out than a Northern Ivy League school? His enemies, especially the stupid Assassins, would never look for him there. When he first told Rogue about his years spent at Yale, he joked that it was back up plan in case the thieving business didn't go as expected. Most people would take up stealing as a back up, but the thrill of it had always excited Gambit. He also recalled the long summers spent in Jean-Luc LeBeau's personal library, reading the rare manuscripts the head of the Thieves' Guild had collected over the years. Those, mostly stolen, books had provided young Remy with an outlet to satisfy the curiosities that he had about the world when no one else could answer his many questions.

When the Professor made that discovery he asked Gambit why he studied literature and psychology and Gambit told him because they helped him with his thieving. As a high class thief, he often attended social gatherings at wealthy homes, blending in with the guests, and robbing them blind while they sipped champagne together. Knowing literature helped him mingle these social events, preventing him from standing out as someone who didn't belong. Psychology aided him in outwitting his opponents when, and if, his charm powers failed to work on a particular foe. Perhaps his knowledge of the human personality and mind had even aided in his maintenance of his telekinetic charm powers when he lost his other powers at the hands of Vargas. Even Beast didn't have an explanation for that one, Rogue had lost all her powers, but Gambit could still charm even though he lost his ability to kinetically charge objects? Gambit liked to think that perhaps he really had lost his telekinetic charm powers and that he was subconsciously using his psychology degree for something! 

Remy was putting the finishing touches on dinner when he heard the door open. He smiled because he knew it was the one person that he didn't have to hide any part of himself from. Rogue took her gloves off and noticed a note on the end table by the door. It instructed her to put on her best dress and go out to the back porch when she was ready. Rogue folded the note and smiled. She could detect the delicious scent of the gumbo from the minute she walked in the house and already her mouth was watering, not to mention the fact that she couldn't stomach food this morning so she was rather hungry right now. Not wanting to disappoint Gambit, she proceeded to shower, put on a green evening gown (Remy's personal favorite) and combed out her hair until it was cascaded down her back and shone in the moon light. 

An eloquently dressed Gambit was already sitting at the table, two covered meals meticulously placed in front of each chair, when Rogue came outside. She never failed to take his breath away when she wore that dress. Heck, she never failed to take his breath away period whenever he saw her! Silently, Gambit stood up and walked to his wife. He took her hand in his and kissed it, all the while unable to take his eyes off of her. He escorted her to the table and pulled the chair out for her. Once she was seated, Gambit took his seat across the table. While they dined they talked, laughed, and reminisced about their tumultuous relationship. With this meal, the conversation, and the man sitting in front of her, Rogue couldn't help but fall in love with Remy all over again. Once the meal was finished and desert had been consumed, Rogue insisted helping to clear the table since Gambit went to all the trouble of making the meal. After they put the last few dishes in the dishwasher Rogue put her arms around Gambit and gave him a long, passionate kiss. When they parted she said to him:

"Remy, Ah can't believe ya went through all this trouble. Ah thought ya said that ya just wanted to spend a quiet evenin' alone at home?"

"We are Chere! We're at home, we're alone," he looked at her with a come-hither glance "But somethin' tells me dat it won't be quiet for long, no?"

Rather than roll her eyes at the comment, or laugh at her husband's never-ending come-ons, Rogue wordlessly picked up a rather surprised Gambit and flew him off to the bedroom.

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The next morning Rogue woke up with the worst feeling in her stomach. The last few days she hadn't felt like breakfast, often opting for a donut on the way to work and yesterday she didn't even have that, but today she felt absolutely sick. The minute she sat up she knew she only had a few seconds to act. She ran to the bathroom, barely pulling her hair back in time to kneel in front of the toilet. Gambit felt Rogue get out of the bed and heard her in the bathroom. Not knowing if he should see if she needed help or let her have her privacy, he hesitantly make his way to the bathroom door.

"Rogue, you alright in dere?"

The only reply he received was not the most pleasant of sounds his wife had ever made. If they had been drinking the night before, he would swear that she had a hang over, but he had forgotten to pick up wine or anything of the sort so they made due with the flavored water that Rogue liked so much. Beast, who had come back late that night to get some sleep in the guestroom, also heard the noises coming from the bathroom and one look at Gambit standing outside the door told him that something was very wrong.

A few minutes later, a very pale looking Rogue emerged from the bathroom. 

"Ah don't know what's wrong with me. Mah stomach's been a little sensitive foah the past week or so, but nothing like this," she looked at Gambit and then at Beast, "Perhaps the spices in the gumbo irritated whatever it is that Ah have? One thing's foah certain, somethin's wrong with me."

Gambit put his arms around his wife, "Why didn't you say somethin' about not feelin' well earlier, Chere? I would have made somethin' less spicy for you last night."

"I can give you an examination Rogue, and determine what has been ailing you," Beast chimed in. "I just wish you had said something sooner, after all, I am a doctor."

Rogue nodded silently and a look of sheer panic struck her as she broke away from her husband's hold and ran back into the bathroom to as Bobby would say, "make an offering the porcelain goddess."

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****

Nothing prepared Rogue for the news Hank had for her. Since it was the weekend and she didn't have to be at work, Beast was able to scan and test to his heart's content. Rogue was ready for any news her friend had for her: the she had an exotic flu, a tropical disease, hell the long since abolished Legacy Virus had stuck her, but not this. She was pregnant! 

"But….but…Hank, ya said that it was impossible for me to have a child. Ya… ya said that Ah wouldn't be able to carry one because mah powers would absorb it from the inside." A very confused Rogue sat on the couch in the living room next to an equally confused Gambit.

"I know Rogue; I'm at a lost to explain such a thing. There is a couple million to one ratio against the fact that you could ever get carry a child to full term. Your absorption powers would feed off the fetus before it has a chance to start to develop," Beast told the worried looking couple. "I thought that your miscarriage nearly a year ago was the closest that you'd ever come to being able to carry a child, but I was wrong. In fact, I have detected several cases of miscarriages in you that you were probably unaware of. From what I can tell a specific genetic combination might hold the key to whether you can carry a child or not. Last year's miscarriage had better genes, so to speak, than others that failed to be conceived or make it past a few hours of life in your womb. In fact, there is a great chance that this baby won't live inside of you for much longer. It will depend on its genetic strength, and that is something that we can only watch and hope for. I might have the necessary tools in my lab at the Mansion to aid you in maintaining this pregnancy but there are no guarantees. You could lose it while giving birth, or even tomorrow. Not to mention I don't even know what the personal health risks are for you. Are you fully aware of the risks of trying to bring this child into the world," Beast asked while readjusting the glasses on his nose.

Rogue looked at Gambit for a minute, she knew that he'd never ask her to put herself in danger, but this was a decision that she didn't have to think about for more than a few seconds, "Hank, if there is a slight chance that Ah can bring this child into the world, Ah want to try, Ah want to give mah baby a chance to live."

"Are you sure, Chere," Gambit said while looking at her with concern-filled eyes. "I don't wanna risk losing you."

"Ah understand Remy, but this is something that Ah feel Ah have to do. Ah just know it is," she said. Her emerald green eyes met his red-on-black ones as she mustered up a small smile, "Don't look so sad Shugah, we're gonna have a baby."

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**Author's Note** Hey everyone! I don't know how many times I've nearly leaked the big news of this chapter to people who made comments during the miscarriage, but I kept a secret, GO ME! :-P Anyway, I'm heading into finals week so posting is going to be tricky, not to mention the fact that I just learned my internet at home isn't working. That means no FF.net for me until it is fixed! UGH! I'll try to post again while I'm still at the dorm, if not it might be a few weeks until I can post again, but fear not, this story will not die! I have too much fun stuff to share! But if there is a delay in posting soon please forgive me!

**Luna12** Wow, very good points. I do agree with the fact that Rogue can probably control her powers because Carol Danvers use to control Rogue and her powers when that personality took over. However, I wanted to take some artistic license for my story. As for the AOA, I'm not too familiar with it and since it is an alternate reality I'm going to take stuff that happens there (and other timelines too) with a grain of salt. Besides, I needed some drama, and again, artistic license. Thanks for checking out my story and making some really good points! :-)

**Star-of-Chaos** I hope that there aren't regulations about breeding plot bunnies, I don't want the ASPCA coming after us:-P Seriously though that's a good idea, I'm surprised it hasn't been done before (and if it has been let me know, I'd like to check it out!)

**Jean1** I'm glad that someone asked me about my choices for Gambit's degrees. I picked those two because I felt that I could have the most fun explaining them in my story, as seen in this chapter. I wanted to pick stuff that people wouldn't normally see associated with Gambit, but stuff that I could explain well enough to make sense in the story so that it didn't come out of no where. Also, I wanted to try to do something a little different than most people would expect. Actually, I had considered art history, (for Gambit it does make sense) but unfortunately I don't know anything about it so I didn't want mess up anything that I was saying. Though neither psychology nor literature are my major, I had a better chance playing with them than anything like math or engineering (though I could have gotten my boyfriend laughing with me trying to explain any of that since his original major was engineering, again something I know nothing about :-P) But thanks for reading and for bringing up some good points! :-)

**RealityDreamer** YAY! Hello again! I hope that this chapter helped to maintain that warm and fuzzy feeling that you were getting from the story! :-)

**Tammy** No guarantees but providing that all goes well with this pregnancy you might have that answer. Well, not for the first pregnancy but for this one! :-)

**T** Thank you, I'm glad that you loved it! :-)

**Ishandahalf **I'm sorry that I taunted you; I don't want to promote more fist shaking! :-P But I was good, I did tell you what the secret was, I could have been evil and left it a cliffhanger, but that would have been wrong, besides, I wasn't in an evil mood at the time:-P Since you're given our scholarly Remy gold stars perhaps I should make him take my finals! Hmmmm, that's not a bad idea….:-P

**Kitsu black** Aww, thank you so much for your kind words and for checking out my story! The novel was "X-men: Empire's End" by Diane Duane, good thing I brought it back with me after a quick stop at my house while I was bringing some dorm stuff home or else I wouldn't have been able to answer that! I don't remember too much about it because I read it a few years back but I did recall that scene between Gambit and Beast and I just HAD to make reference to it! :-P


	12. Return to the Magnetic Pole of the Xmen

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Twelve: Return to the Magnetic Pole of the X-men

Rogue took a look around the now empty living room. The furniture in the house was gone, except the couch that they were using as their bed, and the last few remaining boxes were stacked as they waited for the movers. When Beast told the LeBeaus about Rogue's pregnancy he mentioned that it would be easier for him to monitor her using equipment from the lab in the Mansion. The Shi'Ar technology he had there was more advanced than anything he could transport back and forth monthly to California. Also, he wanted to be able to monitor Rogue constantly, not just on a monthly basis. He felt partly responsible for the major miscarriage she suffered a year ago. He felt that if only he had the proper tools with him or if he could have monitored her more carefully, he could have prevented it from happening. Deep down he knew there was nothing he could have done, but it still didn't stop him from thinking "what if…"

Of course Gambit and Rogue were sad to leave California. Being so far away from the Mansion allowed them to forget their superhero past and just live their lives as Mr. and Mrs. LeBeau. Rogue was especially heartbroken about leaving the beach house in Valle Soleada; it was here that she first came to terms with herself after losing her powers; it was here that she found peace with herself and with her Remy. She exchanged addresses with the friends she made in California like Paint and Marie D'ancanto, hoping to maintain the bonds that they shared while living in close proximity. Rogue's last day at the auto shop was also hard. She promised to write to the guys and send some baby pictures providing all went well with the delivery. The guys knew how hard the loss of the last baby had been for their Anna, so they understood her need to move back east near her "family" and the specialist doctor.

The beach house had sold within a few weeks on the market, why shouldn't it? It was the perfect size and the perfect location, and Rogue was going to miss it terribly. One thing was for certain when it came to moving back to New York: she did not want to live in the Mansion again. She had a taste of freedom living on her own and as much as she loved the others, she "didn't wanna live in the same house as them 24/7". The smiled when she realized Jubilee always said the same thing every time she came home from college on a break. The Professor had a solution to this problem. Many years ago, when Scott and Jean got married, he had a house built just off the Institute property in case they wanted to live out of the actual mansion but close enough to be there every day. Jean and Scott had opted to remain in the Mansion and the house down the street remained uninhabited. Xavier often thought of renting it out, but never got around to it. Now that Gambit and Rogue were moving back, he was glad that he never did get all that paper work filled out. The LeBeaus were more than happy to live in the blue house off the Institute grounds. That way they were close to the Mansion (only a 10 minute walk, 5 minutes by car, a minute if Rogue flew), but far enough to have some privacy. Once they had it decorated the way the wanted and settled in, Rogue knew that this new house grow to be the home that they both needed.

The next few days were long and difficult, most of their stuff had been shipped on ahead, but there was still one moving van of boxes that would be traveling to New York and would arrive a few days after Rogue and Gambit. Gambit couldn't help but laugh at Rogue when she was fed up with how slow the movers were loading everything. While they were inside the house bringing some boxes from the kitchen Rogue took it upon herself to load the couch onto the truck. When the movers asked how it got in there, she just smiled and gave them one of her patented innocent Southern Belle looks. Once he had her alone Gambit expressed concern for her doing such heavy lifting while she was pregnant, but she reminded him that with her super strength, that couch was no heavier than lifting a few books off of a coffee table, but she did promise to be more careful. After all, she didn't want to jeopardize the pregnancy in any way, but she knew it would be hard keeping her from doing things that she was so use to doing. For instance, normally she would just pick Gambit up and fly him to New York, after all she had flown across the Atlantic before in record time, so this wouldn't be any different. But Dr. McCoy and Gambit persuaded her that the stress of such a trip may be too much, so Rogue agreed to ride in "one of those metal chickens" with Remy. She would have rather taken the car but Beast drove it back to New York a few days before so it would be waiting for them when they got there. Gambit found it funny how Rogue had no trouble flying outside of an airplane, or even if one of the X-men was controlling the Blackbird, but she seemed rather nervous flying on a commercial jet with hundreds of other passengers and someone she didn't know at the controls. He also knew his wife's low tolerance for being in crowds probably didn't help the situation.

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Once at the new house Rogue took it upon herself to start unpacking right away. She didn't like the idea of living out of boxes; she had a taste of home life in California and was eager to get it back as soon as possible. Gambit was so use to living on the move that the boxes didn't bother him one way or the other. However, he knew what it mean to Rogue to have everything in order, plus he didn't want her doing anything she didn't have to do, so he took it upon himself to climb ladders to hang lights and posters, and move furniture back and forth across the room (only to give up moving a particularly heavy dresser in which Rogue lightly shoved into place after he had collapsed in a chair "f'just a minute"). After a few days, the house was really starting to feel like home. When one walked in the door they were lead into a rather large living room with stairs off to the side. A bathroom and a coat closet were located down the hall as well as a bedroom (which they were either going to use as a guest room or office or something, they weren't sure yet). Through the living room was the kitchen and dining rooms. Upstairs there were 2 bedrooms with a bathroom attached to the master bedroom. A smaller bathroom was located next to the smaller bedroom. The smaller room was going to be the baby's room. Wooden stairs that were pulled down from the ceiling lead to an attic that spanned the width of the entire house, perfect for storage.

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After another day of unpacking and organizing, Rogue had grown very tired and gone to bed early. Tired, but not yet sleepy, Gambit made his way down the road to scope out things at the Mansion, perhaps con Bobby and Logan out of some money in a game of pool. It was night and he knew the gate would be locked and the security systems would be on full alert. As he approached the gate and placed his hand on a pad for an ID scan, he noticed the address 1407 Graymalkin Lane. He smiled recalling the countless memories that address conjured up. Once his ID was confirmed the wrought-iron gates opened allowing him onto the Mansion property. As the familiar building came into view he recalled the words he had said to Wolverine before he and Rogue were married: "No matter what happens, it always seems like we're being pulled back to dis place. I t'hought dat Magneto was de master of magnetism but it seems like dis old place has him beat, no?" Gambit grinned and realized how true those words were.

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When Xavier built the house for Scott and Jean it was the only one in close proximity to the Mansion. But that was many years ago and over time a few other houses had popped up on the surrounding pieces of property not owned by Xavier. Luckily they were far enough away from the Institute so that nothing was suspected of the activities that went on there. The LeBeaus had made a couple of trips to the Mansion to visit friends and so Rogue could be examined by Beast. They had only been there for a week but Beast had insisted on seeing her three times already, just for a few minutes to make sure everything was ok. "So far so good" was always his response and he even agreed to allow Rogue's visit to drop down to once a week after she got past this first trimester. Rogue knew Beast was just worried and she felt honored that he took so much time and energy to make sure everything with this pregnancy went as smooth as possible. One thing Rogue hated about this pregnancy was the morning sickness. She didn't have any with the first pregnancy, but this time she woke up like clock work at the same time everyday and rushed to the bathroom. Gambit also woke up, and had gotten use to helping hold Rogue's hair back if she wanted him near her, or making her some dry toast and tea afterwards if she felt like it.

This particular morning, exactly one week after they moved in Rogue insisted that Gambit take some time off from unpacking. She wanted some time to herself and she secretly knew that Bobby wanted a chance to win back some money Gambit conned him out of earlier in the week. So Gambit reluctantly agreed to spend a few hours at the Mansion while Rogue unpacked some light boxes of kitchen supplies. As Rogue was putting dishes away in the kitchen she looked out into the back yard. Remy talked of putting in a swing set for their son or daughter, and Rogue smiled at the idea. She just hoped that her powers didn't cause her to lose this child as well. She wanted to be able to build a swing set with her husband for their child someday. As she daydreamed she noticed that on the other side of the chain-linked fence that divided their property and the one behind them a woman slightly older than her was rocking a bundle in her arms while a little girl, maybe 6 years old, played at her feet. The familial scene made Rogue smile thinking that some day she would have her own little family just the way her new neighbor did.

Once the last dish had been taken out of a box and put in the appropriate cabinet, Rogue decided that it was time to extend a little Southern hospitality to their new neighbors. After all, she and Gambit had already been there for a week. Making friends outside the X-men had been so wonderful in California, so why should things be any different in New York? Rogue took one last glance out the window at the neighbors before heading out the backdoor to meet them.

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Meanwhile in Washington discussions of the advancement of mutant scanning equipment and mutant rights yet again thrived on the floor of Congress. Like many controversial issues in the past, mutants and their rights were topics discussed in all branches of the government. This particular debate was being aired on CNN and all the major news carriers. A number of Representatives backed by anti-mutant groups were having a heated debate with a few pro-mutant Representatives. The star of the debate was a fairly young Congressman. Although he had only been in Washington for a short time, about two years, it was apparent that he was a powerful force to be reckoned with. Because he was only in his early thirties he held more liberal beliefs than many of the older Reps. He was also charming, charismatic, a family man, and a savvy politician, all of which earned him a rapidly increasing following. It was widely known that his passion for mutant rights came from the fact that his sister had been a mutant and tragically was killed at the hands of mutant haters when they were teenagers. Rumors circulated that when he gained more political experience he might even be groomed for the Presidency. He argued that mutants were essentially no different than regular people and therefore should not be treated as a threat:

"If we try to use technology to regulate mutant activities, how are we allowed to call ourselves a free nation? Doesn't America try to present itself as a nation accepting of all peoples? The inscription on the State of Liberty reads "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," don't those words extend to mutants as well? Every century has its persecuted group, must we perpetuate the hate further, or can we stop the hatred of mutants now before it grows into something that we can't stop? IF we do not stop the hatred now, what will become of our future, of our children's future?"

His passion stirred applause from those who agreed with him and jeers from his critics, both in the Congress and those at home watching the televised event. Once Congress had adjured the media swarmed the Reps as they left Capitol Hill. Questions were being asked to those who stood on either side of the debate and in the sea of commotion gun shots suddenly rang out and screams of "DIE MUTIE LOVERS" were heard before security could tackle the assailant. Medical assistance was there within minutes. A cameraman and a few Reps were hit in the crossfire but were not in any danger. Most would be discharged from the hospital in a few days. However, one Representative was visibility wounded more than the others. Television cameras panned to the body of the young Congressman who argued so passionately for peace moments earlier. He was announced dead at the scene less than ten minutes after the shooting began. Charles Xavier and many of the X-men watched in horror as the scene unfolded on television. Unfortunately Charles suspected this was only the beginning.

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**Author's Note-** When I posted the last chapter I didn't realize that ff.net doesn't allow certain symbols anymore so I can't use my usual design for separating scenes, so now I have to use boring old dashes. Oh well, good news, my internet at home might be fixed which means I can continue to update from my house, not as often as I do when I'm at the dorms, but you won't have to wait until September. YAY to my boyfriend for going to my house and fixing the computer :-) I'll know more when I go back home for summer break at the end of this week… Ok, I'm off to study for finals (or do more writing, you be the judge)

**Star-of-Chaos-** Oh you are too sweet! Thanks for wishing me good luck on my finals! :-)

**Tammy-** I think that both Dr. McCoy and Rogue are going to be very vigilant with this pregnancy but only time will tell what will happen!

**Kitsu Lebeau-** Yeah, Gambit's just that sweet of a guy! And I hope you enjoy the book if you get a chance to read it, since we keep talking about it, I might have to read it again too once my finals are done!

**Ishandahalf- **I totally hear you about finals, I mean don't schools realize that we have better things to do! In fact, sometimes professors make it seem like we are the only class they have and they each pile on the work! ARG, but that's off topic. Anyway, keep those fingers crossed because Gambit and Rogue are going to need all the luck they can get even though Gambit it is fairly lucky guy on his own…


	13. Tragedy!

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do own the characters that don't belong to Marvel, as fans of X-men you all know which ones are which._

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Thirteen: Tragedy!

Rogue walked into her backyard and approached the fence. She zipped the light jacket and adjusted her arm-length gloves. She glanced around and noted how it was unseasonably warm for early April, not that she minded, it made the adjustment from California a little easier. The little girl saw her first and ran up to the fence.

"Hi! My name is Carlie, I lost a tooth, see," she said while opening her mouth as wide as she could. The small blonde grinned and her brown eyes held that carefree innocence that only a child could manage.

"Hiya Shugah. Wow, that's really somethin', Ah'll be the ol' tooth fairly left you somethin' nice foah that."

"I don't know, I just lost it this morning."

At this point her mother had made her way over to the fence. Rogue noted the mother had the same blonde hair as the little girl.

"Carlie," said the mother with a twinkle in her blue eyes," aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

"Can't Mom, don't know who she is," she looked at Rogue and said, "Who are you?"

Rogue extended a gloved hand over the fence to the little girl, "Ro..Anna LeBeau," she looked at the mother and said "Mah husband and Ah just moved in," she said while motioning to the house.

"Monica Williams, pleased to meet you. I see that you already met my daughter Carlie. And this little fellow," she said while looking at the bundle in her arms and adjusting the blanket which had fallen mostly over the sleeping newborn's face, "is David."

Rogue's hands immediately went to her stomach and she couldn't help but wish that her own child was as real and tangible as this one. "He's adorable," she gushed to the glowing mother.

"I was just about to bring the children inside, would you like to join me for a cup of coffee and some cookies," Monica said.

"Ah'll have to pass on the coffee but Ah'd love to join ya."

Monica smiled in recognition that she and her new neighbor already had something in common.

"Well, just come on around the other side of the yard and we'll meet you in the house. By the way, when are you due?"

"How did you know Ah…"

"Honey, I just finished a pregnancy, the way your hands went to your abdomen when you saw my son, the refusal of coffee, I know all the signs!"

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Rogue discovered that she and Monica got along fairly well considering they just met. Rogue told Monica that this was her second pregnancy after having a miscarriage a year before and that she and Remy had just moved here from California to be closer to their family and friends. She didn't want to test the mutant sympathy waters just yet, so she managed to leave out any information that would pertain to her mutant legacy. Rogue learned that Monica was a professor at a local college until her maternity leave. She expected to go back to work next semester. She also learned that Mr. Williams was away on business and since Monica loved her work so much they developed a way to split time between New York and Washington DC where he worked. In fact, he had been home on holiday until a matter of importance called him away a few days before. Both children were napping while the ladies were getting to know each other. While Monica was sharing the story of how Carlie lost her tooth the phone rang.

"Hold on Anna, I'll be right back."

Rogue looked around the living room while Monica went to answer the phone. She took note of the picture frames all over the room. On the mantel her eyes were drawn to a wedding photo, probably taken about a decade ago with both Monica and her husband beaming. Rogue noted that Mr. Williams had brown hair and the same brown eyes that Carlie has, only his were framed by glasses. She noted a family photo taken before the baby was born, judging from the way Carlie looked, maybe a year or two ago. Finally she noted a frame that held two photos, one with Carlie being swung around in the air by her father, and a very recent one with Mr. Williams in a hospital gown holding the baby David.

Monica picked up the phone and Rogue was not ready for the conversation that she was about to witness, "Yes this is Monica Williams…What do you mean a matter of grave importance…What's wrong with my husband…WHAT!..NO!!! This CAN'T be!!!!...OH MY GOD, NO!!!!!!!" She dropped the phone and slumped onto the floor. Rogue ran over and knelt down beside her neighbor.

"Monica what's wrong? What happened?"

Monica looked up at Rogue in a fit of tears, "M…m…m…my…hus…husband is dead!" With that she collapsed into Rogue's arms and cried. Rogue silently held her not knowing what to do next. In the background Rogue heard the little girl walking towards then and the baby crying in the other room.

**------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Rogue offered to allow Monica and the children to spend the night at their place. Not wanting to be alone and not having any family in the area, she graciously accepted. Rogue headed home to tell Remy what happened while Monica packed some bags for herself and the children.

Remy had just gotten back from the Mansion when Rogue came running into the house. Remy stood up from the couch and saw that Rogue was on the verge of tears. She barely made it into his arms before she started crying. She told Remy everything that she knew, about how Monica's husband was shot today and pronounced dead on the scene. When she finished the story, she looked into his red-on-black eyes as he wiped the tears away from her own emerald eyes. "Ah feel for her Remy, Ah don't know what Ah would do if Ah lost ya. Ah at least had a chance to bring ya back from the dead, Monica never had that chance. She keeps repeating about how hard life is going to be without Jeffrey. Ah just can't believe…"

"Wait," Remy had to interrupt her mid-sentence after he had a realization of his own, "You said dat his name is Jeffrey an' dat her name is Monica Williams?"

"That's right Shugah," it then hit Rogue who her new friend's husband was, Jeffrey Williams, the young Congressman who had been campaigning to help mutants for the past few years in DC. Xavier met him a few times in DC and from what she knew the young Congressman was a kind spirit who desperately wanted peace between mutants and humans. "You mean he was shot today?! That young Congressman who…Ah…Ah can't believe it! Why do the people like Jeffrey Williams have to die while people like the members of the FOH live," Rogue asked with a new sense of anger that replaced the sadness she felt moments earlier.

Remy held her in his arms. He held her closer than he ever felt possible; the young Congressman wasn't much older than he was, helping to underline the fact that they already knew, the world is a dangerous place and life is short. Those cold hard facts of life went double for anyone willing to call themselves an X-man. Plus what Rogue said about not being able to live without him made him hope that he never had to live without her.

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Monica and the children stayed in the LeBeau's house for a few days, not only because it was comforting to have friends around her, but it was easier to make funeral preparations with someone around to watch the children. Six-year-old Carlie seemed to understand that her Daddy wasn't coming back but it would be a long time before she understood the gravity of the situation. Since he was only a month old, David wasn't affected by the news just yet, but Monica confided in Rogue how she mourned the fact that her son would never know his father, except in a few videos and photos. The Professor came over a few times to talk with Monica. Rogue and Remy later learned that Monica and the Professor knew each other fairly well from her husband's work. He often met with the Professor for dinner to discuss mutant-human relations. As a result Monica knew all about the X-men and knew how important it was for her children to be raised in a world that was accepting of mutants, especially if there was a chance one or both of her children could be mutants since her husband's sister had been a mutant.

Even though the Congressman was a fairly popular man in DC Monica insisted that the funeral service be small. Neither of them had any family in the area, in fact both of their parents had died a few years back. Monica was an only child and everyone knew that Jeffrey's only sister was a mutant who died at the hands of mutant haters when they were teenagers. There was a small church in the woods behind the Mansion and the Congressman was buried in the same cemetery that Illyana had been buried in so many years before. In fact, many X-men had been buried there and it seemed fitting that their neighbor Congressman Jeffrey Williams should be buried there as well. After all, just like the X-men, he fought for mutant equality in his own way. All of the X-men attended the service, except Rogue who stayed home to take care of David, who was too young to be at the service. Even young Carlie attended the service at her own insistence. As Rogue held the baby in her gloved arms she prayed that her own child would never have to suffer the fate of losing either her or Gambit, but she knew all too well that in this world, especially with their lives with the X-men, it was a fate that was far too possible.

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**Author's Note-** I know, I know, this chapter was a bit of a downer. I hope that the title didn't scare any of you into thinking that the tragedy was about Gambit, Rogue, and their baby. I wanted to write this chapter to show how there were compassionate humans. It's weird, after I wrote this chapter and everything I acquired a whole bunch of X-men comics, and in one Xavier goes to DC to get some info from a human ally who wants to help mutants because his dead wife was a mutant (I don't remember which issue). I thought that was a weird coincidence. Finally, the church at the end of the chapter really does exist in the comics, it can be seen in Uncanny X-men #304 I believe.

**Kitsu**** Lebeau- **If you do get to read the book I hope you like it! As for the neighbors, you are right, they certainly are different than the friends in California, I mean, I don't recall any California neighbors being involved in DC or anything like that :-)

**Ishandahalf****-** I hope I surprised you by making the neighbors mutant friendly. I figured there have to be more good people than bad out there, so why not showcase some of the good ones. It's just a shame that bad things often happen to good people, as in the case of the new neighbors. But at least the X-men have some non-mutant allies, and that could be an important resource later :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** At least she is close to Hank and his medical equipment now! :-)

**Tammy-** Yeah, I threw the dresser in on a whim, it seemed appropriate :-)

**T- **I think that the X-men are all happy to be together again too :-)

**RealityDreamer****- **If only all guys could be the way we all imagine Remy to be :-)


	14. Lives Less Ordinary

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Fourteen: Lives Less Ordinary

The months of spring seemed to melt into each other fairly uneventfully. The LeBeaus went about their daily routine of morning sickness for the first trimester until one day in late April Rogue woke up without the feeling that she needed to empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet. On the day that this occurred she knew that she was going to love every second of this pregnancy from this moment on. In fact, now that her stomach wasn't bothering her in the morning, she was starting to crave some rather odd food combinations. Being the master chef that he was, Remy made sure to accommodate for her every need.

True to his word, Beast cut Rogue's doctor visits to once a week once the first trimester past. He told them that since the first trimester was the most critical and the pregnancy had been uneventful so far, then everything should go as expected from here on in. But he didn't want to cut her visits completely, after all, with her powers there was always a chance of something going wrong. Rogue didn't mind the weekly examinations, they only took a small amount of time, and it gave her a reason to visit the Mansion, not that she or Gambit ever needed any excuses. Xavier and the others were always thrilled to have the LeBeaus over. Xavier loved sharing the progress of the school's transition from a small scale operation to one of greater proportions. More buildings were being constructed on his property separate from the Mansion to accommodate his dream. In fact, the two buildings currently in construction looked just like a school and a dormitory. The plan was that only the current X-men would be housed in the Mansion. New students would live in the dorms and attend the school, though some students who were local would have the option of living at home. A few potential students had already been referred to Xavier from various sources. The five students in question were all high school students who had begun to manifest their powers, and as a result were harassed at school. Each of their stories was so heart-wrenching that they had already started their classes with Xavier despite the fact the facilities were not operational yet. Since three of the five lived in the area, he only had to house two in an extra guest room until the dorms were finished. The students would receive regular high school curriculum instruction in an environment where their powers would not make them a target of ridicule. Since Xavier's goal was to give these new mutants a safe education, training them to be X-men was not on the list of things to do. The students would take classes in how to control and manage their powers, but would not receive any type of combat instruction, with the exception of some self-defense. For now Xavier handled all of the instruction, sometimes with the help of Beast, but he knew that as the size of the school grew he would need more help. All of the X-men had their own roles to play in this new project. Jubilee was ready to start as a teacher next fall since she was graduating this spring. Bobby, being a certified accountant made sure that everything was budgeted and that nothing exceeded the funds that they had{1}. Logan helped to supervise construction. Kurt had his own project. After the assassination of Congressman Williams he decided that the church and attached cemetery in the woods behind Xavier's property was poorly used for only sad occasions. He wanted there to be a place of peace, joy, and sanctuary close to the Mansion, so he acquired the rights to the church from the town and was able to convert the dilapidated church into a chapel for the X-men to use for all occasions, not just those of death. Since they had two pregnant X-men on their hands, Cyclops and Gambit were given the duties of caring for their wives. Xavier knew how important it was for the families to be together during these precious months.

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As April spilled into May and May quickly became June, Rogue and Gambit fell into a comfortable routine with their lives. They had weekly visits to Hank, hours upon hours preparing the nursery, and sometimes they even baby-sat for the Williams children. Gambit called it practice for the real thing yet to come. Rogue loved holding baby David and Gambit took joy in spoiling Carlie with trips to the local ice cream shop. Around mid-May Rogue was beginning to show and Bobby would comment on whether Rogue could surpass the very pregnant Jean-Grey any time soon. Jean was due in July and seemed practically ready to burst already. Rumors circulated around the X-men about _who _Jean's child would be. Most people discuss whether a baby would be a boy or a girl or how much it would weight, but nothing is ever that normal with the X-men. Jean already had one alternate reality daughter in Rachel and Cable was the son of her clone that Scott had married many years in the past. As a child Cable had to be sent to the future to save his life, only to return as a man older than his father. Cable came and went, but was a fixture at the Mansion from time to time, making it a little awkward for Jean. After all, he was her son DNA-wise, since his mother was her clone. Rachel also sometimes made an appearance at the Mansion, which made Jean wonder if the child she was carrying was indeed the young woman that she sometimes talked with over a cup of tea and a plate of cookies. Hank assured Jean that so much has happened to mess up various timelines, that the chance of the child she was carrying being Rachel was very slim. After all, Rachel's timeline no longer existed. In fact, he was positive this child was not Rachel. He told Jean that she should start concentrating on baby names for this new individual instead of worrying about whether her adult alternate reality daughter from the future could one day be babysitting the infant form of herself.

Jean wasn't the only one concerned with naming a baby. Both their neighbor Monica and Jean had offered to loan the LeBeaus some of the baby name books that they had acquired. Gambit and Rogue often spent many nights laughing and smiling at each other's name choices, but never really came to any solid conclusions. One such conversation happened while Gambit and Rogue were preparing an outdoor picnic on a warm June afternoon. They had been debating the foods to prepare for their backyard feast:

"All right Remy, but no gumbo, Ah don't think mah stomach could take the spices at the moment. So far Ah haven't had any morning sickness and Ah don't want to jinx it."

"Chere, you don't want my gumbo," he said with a hand held over his heart, "I don't t'ink my heart can take dat news!"

She swatted him with a dishcloth, "Don't ya start with me Swamp Rat! Even as Ah grow larger every second, Ah can still take ya!"

Gambit smirked and put a hand on his wife's currently small belly, "I'm sure that 'it' would want some of my special gumbo if I made some."

Rogue smiled at the thought of Gambit talking to their unborn child, "At the moment, Ah'm not so sure. But what Ah am sure if is that we can't keep calling our child 'it' foah the rest of his or her life. We need to think of some names."

With a lopsided grin he said, "Personally Remy Jr seems fittin' for a lil' boy or girl."

She laughed, "Oh ok sure, if we have a baby boy, Ah could concede to Remy Jr. under the conditions, Ah think it is most appropriate since, judging by all morning sickness Ah had early on, it would probably be just as mischievous as ya. However, Ah am not naming mah daughter Remy Jr. nor is she getting a name like Rogue. We need to think of a good name. Though come to think of it, Remy is kind of a cute name foah a baby girl too. But no, our child needs a name of his or her own."

Gambit knew how important it was for Rogue to have a perfect name for this child. She never came out and said it, but he just knew why; she had lost her own name at some point. Sure, she knew it when they first met, in fact she had been willing to tell him once in the past but he told her that names were not important as the person inside{2}. But as she assimilated more psyches over the years, she had started to lose herself, even something as simple as her own name. She didn't have to worry about losing herself due to her powers anymore, Beast said that it would go back to the usual gain a psyche, have it for 60 times as long as the touch, and then lose it again. Then again, he didn't want her absorbing people while she was pregnant, and that was a risk she was not willing to take.

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The next evening Logan, Remy, Bobby, and Scott had gathered for a "friendly" game of poker in the LeBeau's living room. Rogue and Jean were looking through some baby name books in the kitchen.

"I'm feeling lucky mes amis," Gambit said as he dealt the cards.

"When aren't you," asked Bobby as he made a face unintentionally, most likely at the poor hand he had just received.

In honor of the soon to be new fathers in the room, Logan passed some of his best Cubans around. Experienced smokers, Gambit and Wolverine couldn't help but laugh when Bobby and Scott started to gag and cough a bit.

Concerned about the coughing they heard from the other room, Rogue and Jean made their way into the living room.

"Remy Etienne LeBeau!" Rogue yelled disapprovingly, hands on hips, as she and Jean stood in the doorway.{3}

"Uh oh, full name, that can't be good," said Bobby as he finished off the last of the potato chips in the bowl.

Rogue motioned to the cigars the poker players were puffing on, "Ah suggest ya take that game outside right now! No buts! While Ah am carryin' yoah child Ah will not have that dirty thing in this house."

"She means you old man," Bobby snickered at Wolverine.

"That goes for all of ya, out OUT!"

Grumbling the guys picked up the card table and brought it out to the deck.

"Way to go Rogue," said Jean as she opened a window once the men were safely outside. "Looks like you are all ready for parenthood. You've already got the reprimanding down pat."

"Honestly Jean, sometimes Ah feel like those guys are children," Rogue sighed as she sprayed some air freshener. "Now I'll get the ice cream, you get the pickles, and we are going to sit here and enjoy being pregnant."

"Deal," said the red head as she made a dash for the refrigerator.

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While the two female X-men were preparing their pregnancy pleasure food, Bobby Drake walked through the kitchen to grab another bag of chips for the guys outside. He saw Rogue scooping out ice cream and Jean opening a jar of pickles and his immediate reaction was that of disgust: "EW!!! That's so gross! Are you really going to put those pickles on top of the ice cream?"

"Of course not Shugah, don't be ridiculous," said Rogue.

"We are going to put them on the side and dunk them in every once and a while," finished Jean as she placed the pickles on a plate next to the two bowls of ice cream.

"Oh come on now Popsicle, it doesn't look so bad," Logan said as he entered the kitchen and headed towards the fridge. He got a bottle of beer out and popped the top open with a claw. As he made his way back out of the kitchen he took a pickle, dipped it in one of the ice cream bowls, and ate it. "See, it's not that bad. I've had far worse in my life, bub, and those things were considered delicacies."

Rogue and Jean trying to stifle their giggles as Iceman clearly turned a shade of green. As he followed Logan out the door, bag of chips in hand, he was heard saying, "Just because you are going to live forever no matter what you eat due to your healing power does not mean that you have to shorten my life span by doing something gross like that!"

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**Author's Note**- This was a fun chapter to write since the atmosphere was much lighter than that of the last chapter. I wanted to cite certain events so that you could check them out if you wanted, plus I don't want Marvel to think that I'm stealing their ideas, so if I happen to use a specific, possible not well known event or quote, I will cite it if I own the comic and can find it. {1 & 3}- So says "The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: X-men 2004" {2}- Occurred in X-men 24

**Star-of-Chaos-** Thanks! I read a few of your stories recently, good stuff! :-)

**T-** Yeah it was good for her to be there for her friend, but what else would we expect from Rogue? :-)

**Tammy- **Yeah, I figured that not all families would abandon their loved ones, I mean not at the rate that the comics make it out to be sometimes. :-)

**Kitsu Lebeau- **Yeah, I wanted to make a point about how hard it was for some people to do the right thing and that superheroes aren't the only ones trying to change the world. As for the novels, the only other ones that I have are "The Jewels of Cyttorak" by Dean Wesley Smith and "X-men and Spiderman Time's Arrow Book: 3- The Future" by Tom DeFalco & Eluki Bes Shahar, there are two other books in the trilogy, but I have only read this one. I hope that this information helps! :-)

**Ishandahalf-** Yeah, I thought it would be fun to have mutant-friendly neighbors, it seemed like a nice contrast to the usually mutant-haters that we see. As for the foreshadowing, I never make any guarantees but I foresee no need to kill off Gambit or Rogue for the purpose of this story, mainly since the premise is their lives together over the years, but you'll have to wait to see what happens! PS: I LOVED your fics, I can't wait to see what you come up with in the future! :-)

**RealityDreamer****-** No I haven't seen Troy yet, but I hope to see it soon. :-)


	15. Jean's Baby

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike.  I also don't own Gone with the Wind, but I did quote it in this chapter._

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Fifteen: Jean's Baby

At the end of June the X-men threw a lavish baby shower for Jean-Grey. The redhead was incredibly surprised and thrilled with the shower, a reaction one wouldn't normally expect from a psychic, but the X-men knew that like the Professor, Jean didn't use her powers to pry into the minds of her friends without their permission.  Jean's shower was yet another experience for the X-men to feel like they led normal lives.  They laughed and joked with each other and enjoyed the food that Remy had painstakingly prepared.  Jean and Scott took turns opening presents for the baby while Bobby made a hat out of a paper plate and the bows from the presents.  Jubilee informed him that that particular tradition was for bridal showers, but he felt that Scott would look ravishing in such a hat, and the young woman agreed full heartedly, so she joining in with gathering bows and ribbons.  She eventually persuaded the leader of the X-men to put the hat on and smile for pictures with his laughing wife.  Since this was something that Cyclops would never do normally, everyone wanted to capture the moment on film.

Many of the presents were picture books and toys for the baby, but some of the other presents really stood out from the others.  Logan had made a simple, yet study rocking chair for the soon-to-be-parents.  Rogue and Remy got this two-in-one stroller/ car seat that Jean had been eyeing in the mall a few weeks back.  The Professor's present was less of a surprise than the others since Jean and Scott both knew the basic concept of it.  He had a separate bedroom built off of the suite that the Summers' lived in so that the baby could have its own room.  What the couple didn't know was what the room would look like and the Professor had them all take a tour of the completed room after the meal.  But the most surprising and heartfelt present came from Cable and Rachel.  They had gotten a toy chest that was colorfully painted with ducklings, but that wasn't the part that Jean found so touching.  In a hidden drawer in the toy chest were a bunch of letters written by the pair, one from each for Scott, Jean, and the baby.  The letters for the baby were to be opened at a later date, and it told the baby their hopes and dreams for their new sibling of sorts.  Both Scott and Jean opened their letters at the shower and privately read the thoughts from their "children" about how they knew the couple would make great parents for this baby.  Jean couldn't hold back her tears after reading a line in Cable's letter to her: "I never really knew my mother, but if she was anything like you are, I know that this child is going to be the most loved individual on this planet, in this timeline or any other."  After reading the letters from the pair Jean couldn't help but give them both hugs and tell them how much the letters truly meant to her.  Even Scott seemed to be fighting back tears as he gave the son he lost years ago and the daughter he would never know a hug.  When the party was over and everyone else had left, Jean and Scott asked Cable and Rachel to be the godparents of their child.  The Summers' knew that if something ever happened to them then there were no two individuals in the world who would be more appropriate to raise their child.  Being the child's godparents also gave Cable and Rachel a more definitive relationship with the baby, it was much easier to say that they were the godparents rather than the half brother born in the past but raised in the future or the sister from an alternate reality. 

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Late one July afternoon Remy and Rogue were enjoying a peaceful moment at home, watching "Gone with the Wind" at Rogue's request, while she tried to push the idea of naming a son Rhett or a daughter Scarlett on Remy.

"We are both children of the South Remy, can ya think of more appropriate names foah our children than the most famous Southern names of all time?"

"Now I know how much you love dis movie Chere, but do you really t'ink dat Rhett Butler LeBeau is a suitable name?  Actually, dat don' sound dat bad, kind of dashin', non?"

Rogue smiled at his babbling and he caught site of her grin.

"Wait, oh no Chere, Remy was just t'inking out loud, dat's all!  A LeBeau child need a strong name wit' French roots.  Take t'members of my family.  Jean-Luc LeBeau, Henri LeBeau, Etienne Marceaux, Remy LeBeau, do you see a pattern?"

"Frankly mah dear, Ah don't give a damn" she quoted from the movie as she smiled at Gambit.  "Alright Swamp Rat, what do ya suggest then," before he could answer she cut him off full well knowing the answer, "Ah mean 'sides Remy Etienne LeBeau Jr?"

"And Rogue Jr of course, right Chere, Remy knows t'drill.  Ok, my choice for a son is Stephan Jacques LeBeau and for a daughter Brigitte Jeanette LeBeau."

"Ok Remy, those aren't too bad, but now we have to remember Ah also get a say in the baby's name and since Ah don't know mah family's roots, Ah don't necessarily want a name that is completely dominated by French roots, after all, LeBeau showcases yoah French-Creole background nicely.  Perhaps we can break the mold a bit by having a more neutral name?"

He snuggled a little closer to his wife and said, "Fair enough Chere, what do you suggest?"

"Well if we can't come to a compromise perhaps ya can pick one name, Ah can pick another and together we can find a name we both agree on?"

"I'll agree to dat Rogue, what names did you come up wit'?

"Well, for a son Ah was thinkin' Benjamin Anthony an' for a daughter Ah was thinkin'…," she was interrupted by the phone.  "Here Shugah, ya flip through this here baby name book from Monica and find some ideas while Ah answer that."  She got up, picked up the name dictionary from the coffee table and dropped it into Remy's lap.  Then she made her way to the phone.

"Hello?...Oh hi Scott, what can….Now calm down Shugah, Ah can't understand a word ya're sayin'…Jean's WHAT?...Hank's WHERE?...Ok, ok, ya stay put, Remy and Ah will be there faster than Quicksilver wit' his pants on fire."  She hung up the phone and made her way back to Remy.  "Well, we'll have to continue this conversation another time; we gotta get to the Mansion as fast as possible.  Jean's goin' into labor, Scott is the only one home and they can't find Hank."

Remy got up off the couch, stopped the DVD, and turned off the TV.  "You mean to tell me dat out of all t'people dat live in dat house no one else is home, and how can you not locate a large, furry, blue homme?"  Rogue could only shrug as he grabbed the car keys and they made their way out the door.

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"It's ok Honey, now just breath like Hank had said, Heh heh, heh," Scott demonstrated while he paced in front of her, looking out the window every two seconds.  As the leader of the X-men, one would normally find Scott Summers calm, cool, and collected.  Rarely was there ever a situation that he was not prepared for.  This time things were different.  He expected Jean to have her baby in Hank's medical lab downstairs in the sub-basement as they had planned…with Hank present.  Instead they were in the living room off of the main entrance waiting for someone, anyone to come home.

Scott received a burst of pain greater than anything he had ever experienced and he screamed for dear life.  "You feel that Scott, you think that going 'heh, heh, heh' is going to make that go away?"  Scott and Jean's special mental bond allowed them to often experience each other's emotions and right now his wife was using that bond in conjunction with her powers to allow him to "feel" what contractions felt like.

Rogue and Gambit picked a good time to enter the Mansion.  "What happened, Ah heard a scream."

"It's ok Rogue," Jean said through gritted teeth, "Scott was just having sympathy pains, weren't you Dear?"

One look at Scott's face showed fear that the leader of the X-men never revealed before.  Rogue knew she had to act fast, for all their sakes.  "Ok, Remy, go get Kurt, he should be at the church, and have him help ya find Hank.  Scott, go downstairs and prepare the MediLab and relax, ya are gonna be a Daddy soon!  Jean, you and Ah are going to walk for a bit, help ya ease the pain as best as we can."  She helped her friend out of the chair she was in and as Gambit made his way out the door Scott whispered to him, "While you are at the church, thank God that Rogue isn't a telepath, for your sake!"

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Rogue and Jean walked the halls of the Mansion for a bit.  Rogue didn't quite know why they should do this, but she saw it on all those baby programs she and Jean had taken to watching lately.  It probably had to do with easing the pain or helping to move labor along until the contractions were closer together and the mother was dilated enough to give birth.  Either way it seemed to have a calming effect on Jean.  The minute she and Remy walked in the Mansion she noticed that the usually perky Jean was showing a darker side, almost reminiscent of the Dark Phoenix.  However, she was allowed to of course, she was having a baby, and Rogue just hoped that she would be able to keep her emotions in check when it was time for her to give birth.  "I'm really glad that you came Rogue, I know that you haven't experienced the 'joys' of child birth yet, but at least you have an idea of what this is like."

Of course Jean, Ah understand.  Ah know Scott just wants to help, but he'll never know what ya are going through right now."

Jean stopped walking and looked right into her eyes.  "Oh I think that he just might have an idea..."

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Gambit found Kurt fixing up the pews of the church, getting it ready for the first service he expected to have by the end of next month.  He explained the situation to Kurt and asked if he had seen the good doctor.  Kurt replied that Hank and Logan had stopped by the church about a half an hour earlier while they were surveying the lands around the Mansion.  He offered to help his foster-brother-in-law find their other blue friend.  He grabbed Gambit's arm and they teleported into the woods to find Hank.

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Logan was describing some of the surroundings in the woods while Hank logged it in a journal.  They wanted to make an accurate description of Xavier's estate so that there would be no uncertainty about it if their building project was ever questioned.  They had been doing this during spare moments every couple of days for the last few weeks now and were just about finished with their log.  While they continued their task they were greeted with a puff of smoke and the familiar odor of sulfur and brimstone.

"Dere you are, we have been lookin' everyone for you," Gambit exclaimed as they spotted Hank.

"What up Gumbo," Wolverine inquired as Hank closed his notebook.  Kurt explained that Jean was in labor and they needed Hank at the Mansion right away.

"Oh my stars and garters!  We must make haste as to not keep dear Jean waiting," Hank exclaimed.  They each grabbed a hold of Kurt's shoulders and a moment later only a trace of smoke and the sulfur and brimstone smell remained where the four men had stood seconds earlier.

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Scott was pacing around the MediLab when suddenly a ring of smoke appeared in front of him, encircling four of the X-men.  "HANK!  There you are, FINALLY!  You don't know how happy I am to see you!"

"Oh sure, he says nothin' about the rest of us," grumbled Wolverine under his breath.  While Hank and Scott finished prepping the MediLab and getting into scrubs, the others went off to locate Rogue and Jean and bring the expectant mother down to the MediLab.

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Rogue, Remy, Wolverine, and Kurt waited in the living room and described the events that unfolded in their midst to everyone as they came back from wherever they had been.  Pretty soon the living room was full of people keeping vigil, eager to hear some news.  Hours had past and there had been no word of what was happening a few floors below them.  Remy held a sleeping Rogue in his arms on the couch, every so often brushing a piece of hair out of her eyes and kissing her on the top of her head.  Bobby and Jubilee tried to stay awake by sampling various flavors of coffee that they found throughout the kitchen, while Wolverine and the Professor played game upon game of chess to keep themselves awake and a few others came and went as the evening went on.  During the wee hours of the next morning, the Mansion had a new addition to greet.  As Jean held the baby in her arms and Hank took care of the afterbirth, Scott ran upstairs to tell the others the news.  Everyone turned to see Scott beaming in the doorway.

"It's a boy!  A beautiful, healthy boy," he exclaimed to the cheers and congratulations of the others.  After Scott went back downstairs to be with his wife, the others took surprise in the fact that the baby had been a boy.  Most of the X-men expected the baby to be a girl, one that would be named Rachel, even if the timelines wouldn't match up anymore.  Hank had said he knew for a fact that this child wouldn't be Rachel, and now they knew why.  Scott and Jean decided on the name Nathaniel Rowan Summers.  Nathaniel seemed like a nice cross between Rachel and Nathan, the names of the baby's godparents.  Rowan was taken from one of the baby books that Jean had spent hours looking at.  She decided that if she had a boy with red hair, then she wanted Rowan for the middle name, since it meant "red-haired."  From the moment Hank cleaned off the baby, it was evident that the baby had a full head of red hair, just like his mother.  Once Jean was asleep and Hank was off making the entry of the baby's birth into the medical logs, Scott held his son in his arms and made a silent promise that he would do everything for this child that he did not get to do with Nathan.

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A month later in mid-August the X-men celebrated the first, of hopefully many, joyous occasions in Kurt's chapel.  Jean, Scott, baby Nathaniel, Rachel, and Cable had gathered at the baptismal font while Kurt said the blessing over the child.  Rogue and Gambit were among the attendants.  Rogue smiled at her husband, squeezed his hand, and put her other hand on her stomach, knowing that it would only be a matter of months before her foster brother would be baptizing their own child in this very chapel.  Gambit and Rogue, as well as the other X-men prayed that happy moments like this, times of celebration, would outweigh the darker times they were all use to experiencing.

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**Author's Notes-** So that's one X-baby down and one to go!

**Tammy-** Yeah, I liked the interaction between Rogue and Jean too.  I hadn't intended to write any real friendly interaction between them originally because I couldn't really think of a time where they were super close in the comics, usually Rogue and Storm as friends is portrayed.  But it just seemed to fit really well, I'm glad you liked it! :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** I know, you think that he would know better, especially because he knew better than to smoke in the house when they were in California.  But I guess when the guys all get together and kick back a few cold ones while playing poker; they can't help but act a little immature.  Even Remy can forget the house rules now and then, after all, the X-men are only human, so to speak. :-)

**T-** I'm glad you liked that last chapter! :-)

**Ishandahalf****- **You'll just have to wait to see if the LeBeaus have a boy or a girl, but I know that they'll be happy with either!  They seemed to have a bit of fun with names in this chapter; I hope you enjoyed their antics.  As for Rogue's name, I agree it does add to the mystery of her character if we are kept in the dark about it.  However, if the presentation of her name is done in a well-thought out manner and is not just random then sometimes it adds to a story, so we'll just have to wait to see what happens;-)  Sometimes I wonder if Marvel will ever reveal a definite name for her, not just aliases.  Either way, it's all good!  Yes, Remy is a great name, I should run it by my boyfriend, although it doesn't sound all that good with his last name:-(  Oh well, at least I know he thinks Gambit is awesome, even though he doesn't know much about X-men, he did watch the original animated series when he was younger and agrees that Gambit and Rogue are among the greatest!  As for the weird food combos, I've never eaten that particular creation, but I do have a strange appetite so I would probably try it once without being pregnant also, haha:-P

**Kitsu**** Lebeau-** Glad I could give you some info, I knew most of the Cable info but Rachel was a character that I've only seen briefly in the Wedding of Cyclops and Jean-Grey comic that I have so I had to do some research on her.  Between you, me, and ishandahalf, we could start a club of weird eating habits, hahaha.


	16. The Miracle

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike.  I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families.  Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Sixteen: The Miracle

Jean's baby made Rogue pine for her own child even more than she thought possible.  On visits to the Mansion she saw how happy Scott and Jean were and she knew that soon she and Remy would have that same joy in their lives, it was only a matter of time and she hated waiting!  It wasn't only the fact that she was impatient, but as the months dragged on she grew increasingly larger, she couldn't take the discomfort that went with being pregnant much longer.  Oh sure, like Jean said, it was fun when the belly was small and you didn't look all that pregnant.  She loved how cute everything was when her belly was small and it was obvious that she was pregnant but not as big as a house.  People would be excited for her and since she didn't have morning sickness any more, she loved every moment of it!  As it became closer to her due date she began to realize what Jean said when she meant that you felt like you were going to keep growing until the baby just walked out on its own.  Also, it had been a while since she had seen her feet and was beginning to forget what it was like to look down and see something that wasn't a giant belly.  In fact, she had gotten Remy into the habit of checking to see if her shoes matched before she left the house, just in case.

Rogue looked out the kitchen window one lazy Saturday morning in October while cleaning up the last of the breakfast dishes.  Monica was outside playing with the children.  Carlie had just turned seven in September and had started second grade at the local elementary school down the street.  The usually rambunctious child was sitting peacefully in a lawn chair enthralled with the book that the LeBeaus had given her for her birthday.  Monica had told them that the little girl had already read the story dozens of times and never seemed to tire of it.  While Carlie read her story Monica was playing Peek-A-Boo with a squealing seven-month old David.  Rogue chuckled at the sight and knew how much a baby could be entertained by that game for what seemed like hours.  She held her own tummy and daydreamed a bit about what it would be like to play that game with her own baby.  The baby even kicked a bit, as if in recognition of what she was thinking.  Once the last of the dishes was put away she decided to sit down in the living room and put her feet up for a bit.

Meanwhile, Remy was upstairs putting the finishing touches on the nursery.  He smiled to himself as he looked around at the finished product.  Not knowing the gender of their baby, the LeBeaus kept the room fairly neutral.  The carpet was a lush green and the walls were a colorful splash of greens, pinks, yellows, and blues, all pastel and very inviting.  Remy thought for a moment that if dearly departed Piotr had been around there might have been some sort of mural or garden scene lovingly painted on the walls.  But neither he nor Rogue was an artist like Piotr was, so the gentle swirls of color would have to make due.  What the walls lack in artistic flair they certainly made up for in the labor of love, and Remy knew that Colossus would have been proud of their artistic attempt, just as they were proud of him in making the ultimate sacrifice to rid the world of the dreaded Legacy Virus. 

In one corner was a rocking chair which Rogue already enjoyed sitting in, though Remy teased her that she won't enjoy sitting in it as much after the baby came, at least not at 2am every morning.  Next to the rocking chair were shelves that held baby care books, nursery rhymes, and stuffed animals, all treasures which they brought home from the latest baby shower the X-men threw for them.  Bobby joked that after having showers for Jean and Rogue; the X-men should give up the superhero business and instead hire themselves out as baby shopping "X-perts X-traordinaire!"  Against another wall the changing table was already set up complete with all the products needed to freshly diaper a baby.  The table already had some practice from when the LeBeaus watched baby David.  In fact, Remy recalled one particular instance in August when Rogue and Monica took Carlie shopping for school clothes and he offered to watch the baby.  Usually Rogue changed the baby when he was left in their care, mainly because she insisted on the practice.  The few times Remy tried it, Rogue coached him the entire way through, the same way he knew Jean had coached her.  Having tried it a few times before, Remy thought that it wouldn't be difficult changing the child.  However, the little blonde boy proved him wrong with a face full of urine the minute the diaper came off.  Instances like that made Remy pray for a daughter, although he knew he would get the hang of changing a boy if he had a son.  Sometimes he hoped for twins, one of each, so that he wouldn't have to decide, but Hank had already told them that Rogue was only carrying one child and both of them wanted the gender to be a surprise. 

The focal point of the room was a hand-crafted crib presented to them at the baby shower by Wolverine.  No one had expected Logan of all people to have crafted such an eloquent piece.  It was detailed with characters from various nursery rhymes, and could even be converted into a youth bed for when the baby was older.  Of course the child would outgrow it eventually, but it would definitely get a good many years of love and use first.  Rogue knew that by this act of love Logan was the perfect choice to be the baby's godfather, and Remy agreed, but they wanted to wait until after the baby was born to tell Wolverine of their decision.  They both knew that Wolverine would do anything for their child, just as they would.  As for the baby's godmother, they decided on Storm since she and Remy had a special, almost familial bond.  Like Logan, they knew that Storm would do anything for this child.  They didn't want to tell their friends of their decision to make them the baby's godparents until after the birth, just in case, heaven forbid, something happened during the delivery.

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Remy came downstairs from the nursery to find Rogue with her feet up on the coffee table, head back, and napping.  He smiled at how peaceful she looked.  He couldn't help but feel guilty, the baby's constant kicking and moving made it difficult for her to sleep the last few nights, though she said that she didn't mind too much since it at least let her know the baby was alive.  Sometimes she would get up and sit in the rocking chair in the baby's room since she insisted that it was more comfortable than the bed at these times.  She also mentioned that she felt bad keeping him up all night when she couldn't sleep.  He told her not to feel that way since he wasn't the one carrying the baby, but she joked that she wanted him to be well rested since he'd more than make up for her sleepless nights when the baby would be crying at all hours of the night.  He sat next to her on the sofa and pushed some hair out of her face.  He couldn't help thinking to himself, "Mon Dieu, she's beautiful."  Everything that they had gone through with their powers and their experiences with the X-men made simple moments like this worth it.  Less than ten minutes later he found himself napping right next to her.

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The pain was unbearable!  She found herself on a Shi'Ar spaceship and all the X-men were around her.  She didn't know how she got there or what was going on.  Bobby and Logan were in one corner eating pickles with ice cream, bread lathered in Cheese Wiz and relish, and plates of macaroni with ketchup in the company of Lilandra and Charles?{1}  Why were they eating some of her pregnancy pleasure foods?  Jean, Scott, and baby Nathaniel were standing over her; Jean said it would all be over soon.  Oh no!  Was she in labor?  Not here, not now, she didn't even know what was going on or how she got here!  Not that this was the first time she and the others had been transported into space without much notice.  Last thing she remembered she was in her living room and now she's in space!  Wait, where was Remy?  She looked down and found herself lying in a pool of water, maybe a few inches high.  Was this some sort of Shi-Ar birthing table?  Odd, oh no, here comes that pain again!  "WHERE'S REMY, Ah need him," she screamed but no one answered her.  She looked at her stomach and suddenly the skin ripped open and the baby's head came through!  Wait, that wasn't a baby, the head turned to face her, "Bonjour Chere!"

"AAAAHHHHHHHH," Rogue woke with a start.  Remy shot up immediately. 

"What's wrong Chere," he looked at her as she looked around the room, down at her stomach, and finally at him.

"Oh Remy," she exclaimed as she hugged him.  "Trust me, ya wouldn't believe me if Ah told ya."  She looked at the clock, four hours had past since she had sat down in the living room.  Although it had been a dream she felt the pain in her abdomen still, and when she went to stand up, she noticed a wet spot where she had been sitting.  Could this mean?!  Yup, her water must have broken, thus the pool in her dream, but now what?  She didn't want to freak Remy out so in the calmest voice possible she said, "Remy, Shugah, Ah don't mean to alarm ya, but Ah think we better get to the Mansion right away.  Ah… Ah…Ah think Ah'm in labor."

Remy's eyes widened and he shot up off the sofa.  "Sapristi!"  Too many thought ran through his head, what should he do, does Rogue need anything before we go?  Any plans he had thought out for when this moment came went completely out of his head.  Now he knew how Scott felt a few months ago.  He took a deep breath, if he panicked, she might panic, and Hank said that childbirth would be a difficult obstacle for Rogue.  The baby might have survived the duration of the pregnancy, but she could still lose it in childbirth, especially if she lost control of her senses.  Anything could happen with her powers.  "Ok Rogue, you go wait in t'car and I'll call Hank and let him know dat we are on our way."  He took a hold of her hands, "It's goin' t'be all right Chere, I love you so much." He looked into her eyes and kissed her fingers.

She smiled at him, she knew he was trying to be brave for her sake, but she could see it in his eyes, he was scared out of his mind both for her and the baby.  He couldn't hide anything from her, no matter how hard he tried.  Still, she appreciated the effort, it was better than him running around like a chicken with its head cut off.  "And Ah love ya too Remy.  Thanks foah being wonderful."  She kissed him on the cheek and smiled.  "Now let's shake a leg Shugah, 'fore this little critter marches out on its own!"

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During her career as one of the X-men Rogue had faced challenges that most people would be surprised she walked away from.  However at this very moment she decided that she would rather be fighting a Sentinel or Apocalypse than having her legs in stirrups with the most awful pressure in her abdomen.  There were very few battles that she could recall that were this painful, perhaps it had to do with the fact that her exterior is fairly invulnerable, but her insides were as delicate as anyone else's.  It felt like this baby was going to rip her in half.  Perhaps that dream she had where the head came right through her stomach was a fairly accurate feeling after all!

Remy could tell that Rogue was trying her hardest to keep her super strength in check.  After a particularly strong contraction he was afraid that she was going to crush every bone in his hand, but he knew that what she was going through was probably ten times worse, especially after what Scott told him happened when Jean was delivering, so he kept his mouth shut.  Rogue noticed Remy wincing and maintained a firm grip on a pillow in her other hand; at least she couldn't hurt that.  That way she could hold Remy's hand for moral support and the pillow for physical pain release.  Jean had been in labor for a total of 9 hours, Monica said that Carlie took 12 hours, but David took only 2 hours.  Rogue had already been at it for close to 4 hours and was hoping that she was near the end.  Four hours of labor sounded much more appealing than 9 or 12.

"I see the head!  Remy take a look at this, the first view of your child," Beast said through his surgical mask.  Remy momentarily let go of Rogue's hand (possibility saving it's mobility he thought) and glanced where Hank motioned. It took a second to realize that the head he saw was his child, their child.  In a few more minutes he was going to be a father!  A rush of excitement filled through him.  "I see it Chere, you're doin' great!  It will all be over soon, I know it's been hard, and I am so proud of you," Remy exclaimed as he went back up by Rogue. 

"Ok Rogue, I am going to turn the baby's shoulders with the next contraction, after that it should slide out pretty quickly, get ready to meet your son or daughter, just one more push," Hank ordered, and Rogue complied.  Everything seemed to happen so quickly after that.  A swift pulling motion and the baby was placed on the Rogue's covered stomach as it began to cry.  "It's a girl and from the sounds of it, she seems quite healthy," Hank exclaimed and Remy looked into Rogue's eyes as she started to smile and cry.  Remy knew the relief that she felt, she told him once that she was afraid of giving birth to a stillborn baby that had the life absorbed out of it during childbirth.  He had often though about that too, but now that those fears could be laid to rest.  They had a baby girl, a daughter.  He squeezed her hand and felt his eyes start to water up as Hank asked him to cut the umbilical cord.  Then the good doctor checked the baby over to make sure that there were no immediate health threats.  Remy kissed the top of his wife's head as he murmured, "It's all goin' t'be all right Chere, it's goin' t'be just fine."

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Rogue held the baby in her arms.  She held the baby in gloved hands, afraid that her powers might do something to the baby now that she was no longer attached to her by the umbilical cord.  She was not willing to risk losing her child, and if that meant a life of touching her through gloved hands than so be it.  All of the pain and discomfort was worth it to hold this sleeping angel in her arms.  How such a delicate little thing managed to survive 9 months in her womb she didn't know.  This little child was a survivor, much like her parents.

Remy bent over and kissed his sleeping daughter on her virtually hairless head.  Unlike Nathaniel, who was born with a head of red hair, their daughter had nothing but slight, seemingly colorless fuzz covering her head.  When the others asked who the baby looked like, Rogue joked that she looked the most like Charles Xavier at the moment.  Only time would tell who this baby would take after, and Rogue suspected that hair color wasn't the only surprise this child would have in store for her and Gambit.

 "Well Shugah, what should we call her?  Remy Jr seems to be out the window now," Rogue said with a grin up at Gambit.

 A mischievous grin was plastered on his face as he said, "Well we could call her lil' Rogue…" 

"Absolutely not!  She needs to start life off wit' a proper name." 

They finally settled on Jessica Rose LeBeau.  Remy picked the name Jessica after looking through all the baby name books Jean and Monica had donated to their cause.  He found it interesting that every source seemed to give it a different meaning.  He liked that, much like the genetics that allowed this child to live, the name itself should represent her wildcard nature he thought to himself (In fact he had taken to calling the baby his little Wildcard practically the second she was out of the womb).  The two most common meanings were "God sees" and "wealthy."  These were two things that Remy wanted for his little girl, after the risks bringing her into the world, he wanted her to be watched over, and as a former thief he of course wanted his daughter to enjoy all the riches of the world.  A third meaning was gift, and truly this child was a gift to him and Rogue.  A fourth meaning he found in one source said that the name meant "peace" and being born to mutant parents in a world that feared their kind, all he could hope for was peace.  Rogue picked the name Rose for the same reason she chose Anna as her new name years earlier, she just didn't know.  The name kind of fell into her lap when she saw the child but it seemed appropriate.  And more than likely, there was a deeper reason behind the name choice.  She just didn't know what quite yet.

Hank finished entering the baby's birth into the medical log and looked at the new family through the window that separated his office from the lab itself.  He was relieved that all went well.  When Remy called him to announce that Rogue was in labor, he was worried.  She was two weeks early from the expected due date, not that it was a huge amount of time, but in her case, any prematurity could pose a problem.  He worried about if the child would make it though the birthing process, he worried if it would have problems after the cord was cut.  He had Remy cut the cord; a task the new father took great pride in doing.  Then Hank examined the baby and was relieved to find nothing out of the ordinary.  When he went to hand the newborn to her mother, he noticed Rogue had already whipped out gloves and put them on.  Although he had a feeling she could be able to touch the baby without problems, he didn't want to risk anything just yet.  It would be better to wait a bit, both so emotions could calm down and so that the baby was a bit stronger.  He took one more look at the family in the other room and smiled before heading upstairs to tell the others the good news, a task that Remy and Rogue asked he'd do so that they could enjoy their first few moments as a family together.

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**Author's Notes-** Whew!  I know that was a long chapter, but I didn't want to taunt you by ripping it into two chapters.  I really hope that you enjoyed this one!  Ok, this thought probably came about due to the fact I just received a shipment of comics that I've been wanting for a while (gotta love Ebay!) but has anyone else noticed that author's notes in the stories of FF.net feel like the mail the comic book editors post at the end of issues?  At least the X-men FF.net stories I've read.  Ok, this is what I get for spending all evening reading about 8 comics in one sitting.:-P

{1}- Special shout-out and thanks to Kitsu LeBeau and Ishandahalf for giving me the food ideas.  When I first wrote this chapter I only included the ice cream & pickles reference, but your suggestions were too delicious (no pun intended) to leave out! :-P

**Kitsu LeBeau-** Yeah I do that too!  I have no patience when I read something, I always want to know how it ends, and I find myself reading too quickly and I miss something important and then I have to re-read it!  And if you couldn't tell, I ramble too, so don't worry about it!:-) I'm glad you like this story so much, and after reading this chapter, you now know the mystery of Baby LeBeau! After reading your comments about the gender of the baby I wondered if I had posted the wrong chapter because I knew I made reference to all the possibilities in one of the chapters (ended up being this one).  I guess I am just really predictable :-P

**Star-of-Chaos-** I am not at the point in my life where I am ready to have children, so I do not know what it is like (the words excruciating pain do come to mind) but you are right, I can guarantee that if you ask any woman who had given birth if they could do to their significant other what Jean did to Scott, they would. :-P

**Ishandahalf- **Aww Ish, you got me there!  I didn't want to reveal Rogue's choices for names because I knew it was a girl and since she just came up with her name selection on the spot, it wouldn't have been as much fun for me to reveal her decision when she doesn't reach it until she sees the baby.  I'm glad you enjoyed my tender moment with Gambit and Rogue and of course Jean and Scott's little fiasco:-P

**Tammy-** After seeing Jean's reaction, I figured Rogue would try as hard as possible not to make Remy suffer too much, but did a little anyway by accident :-P

**T-** After being in labor for 9 hours, I'm sure Jean was happy to have her baby too :-P

**RealityDreamer-** Thanks :-)


	17. So much to be thankful for

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike.  I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families.  Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

**Part IV**

Chapter Seventeen: So much to be thankful for…

"What's t'matter wit' Poppa's lil' Wildcard," Remy asked rhetorically as he picked the crying child up out of her crib.  He and Rogue had been sleeping in the other room when the cries were heard over the baby monitor.  He glanced at the clock, 2:15am, right on schedule.  This child was like clock work, she would wake up at all times during the night, but never had a night gone by where she didn't wake up at 2:15am wanting to be fed.  Remy went to the nursery, picked up the baby and brought her down to the kitchen where he prepared one of the pre-made bottles from the refrigerator.  As he fed his daughter the bottle he sung a French lullaby to her hoping to lull her into a peaceful sleep.  He looked at the baby as she drank from the bottle he held.  A pair of emerald green eyes stared back up at him.  From the moment the baby opened her eyes, it was apparent that physically she was going to take after her mother.  Just like Rogue the baby had deep emerald green eyes and fair, almost porcelain, colored skin.  In fact, she really didn't seem to physically take after Gambit at all.  He could only imagine that the baby might have hair closer to his shade of brown than Rogue's shade of brown with the white stripe.  But the baby was only a month and a half old, and as everyone said, as bald as Xavier.  Rogue said that Gambit's genes came in with the baby's personality.  She claimed the child was already a little charmer, able to melt the hearts of even the toughest X-men, especially Wolverine.  She predicted that the baby would end up acting like Gambit in most ways; after all, she was already "Poppa's lil' girl."  As Gambit put the baby back in her crib he hoped that she wouldn't wake up too much more tonight, tomorrow she would have a big day.  Not only was it her christening, but it was Thanksgiving as well and she, as well as her parents, would need all the rest they could get!

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Thanksgiving is truly a time to be thankful for all of the blessing that life has to offer.  No two people knew this fact to be true than Gambit and Rogue.  As a result they decided to have the baby's christening on Thanksgiving before the family dinner at the Mansion.  It seemed like a good idea because their friends were already taking the day off from doing whatever it was that they do and others who lived farther away would be in the area anyway.  As the LeBeaus entered the Mansion early that morning they were greeted by an eager looking Dr. McCoy who ushered them to the MediLab in the subbasement.  He had wanted to see if Rogue's powers affected the baby sooner but with all the craziness life with a newborn had thrown their way, he hadn't really had a chance to do so.  Since they were coming over before the christening, Beast wanted catch them before everything got chaotic with Thanksgiving and the baptism itself.  After looking the baby over Beast turned to the parents and said, "Well, everything looks good, as usual."  He tickled the baby's feet and she giggled.  Then he looked at Rogue and asked her, "Rogue, have you tried to touch the baby without a barrier?"

"Oh no Hank!  Ah wouldn't risk that!  Ah always wear gloves when Ah touch the baby and… "

"I understand your fears Rogue," he interrupted.  "And I probably should have made you try this earlier but I know that you were scared and of course upsetting you so soon after childbirth may have been risky.  But I really would like you to try this.  If it will lay any fears to rest you know that I'm right here if anything should go awry, but I feel that this is a risk that you should take."

In her mind Rogue seemed to weight the options in her head, as if reading her mind Hank added, "Wouldn't it be better to find out now if you can hug and kiss your child rather than touching her through a barrier for the rest of her life."

Rogue looked into his eyes when he said that.  She knew that Hank would never do anything to put her or her child at risk.  If he felt that she should do this, than she knew to trust him.  She looked at Remy and he nodded and gave her a small smile.  He knew that it killed her not being able to touch the baby like most mothers could.  She fed the baby with a bottle of pumped breast milk and he saw the sadness in her eyes whenever he kissed the baby.  She always told him to give the baby "a kiss from Momma" and he knew the sadness in her voice whenever she said that, even if she didn't mean for there to be any.  She longed to tickle Jessica without gloves and had never given the baby a kiss in fear of absorbing the life out of her little body.  Even though she thought she had decided that a life spent touching her child behind a barrier was better than not having a child at all, she wanted, no, NEEDED to know.  It was now or never.

Slowly, with shaking hands, Rogue took her gloves off and laid them next to the baby on the medical table.  Then she reached over and slowly brought a shaking hand to the baby's face.  Rogue lightly placed her fingers on the baby's rosy cheeks and the child stared up at her and cooed.  And that was it, nothing else happened!  Rogue didn't feel Jessica's lifeforce flow into her; the baby didn't lose consciousness, nothing!  With a sigh of relief Rogue picked up the baby and held her tightly, kissing her on the forehead over and over as if to make up for the kisses missed out on during the last month and a half.  The tears streamed down her face as she repeated, "Oh mah baby, mah dear sweet baby" over and over.  After a few minutes she looked over at the elated Remy and an equally happy Beast.  "But Hank, how was this possible?"

Hank reminded her of how Remy was immune to her powers and how the baby was carried to term whereas other children failed to follow suit.{1}  He then explained the hypothesis he held about the baby being equally a genetic combination of both her and Remy

"This combination explains why Jessica was able to be conceived, carried in utero, and be born when other children failed to follow suit.  Gambit is immune to your powers.  Similarly you are immune to your own powers.  This child survived because of the sheer fact that she is genetically a combination of both of those traits.  Fascinating!" Beast said excitedly.

Gambit walked over to Rogue and kissed his wife on the cheek before saying, "Genetics is purely a gamble.  Sometimes you get a crap shoot, and sometimes," he kissed his daughter on the head; "you get a wildcard."

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The christening itself went off without a hitch.  Nightcrawler was thrilled that the second baptism in his chapel was that of his niece.  Though not blood-related, Rogue was the closest thing he had to family in the area and she felt the same way about him.  Sometimes he would come over from working at the chapel and have dinner with the LeBeaus.  He loved spending time in the familial atmosphere, swapping stories with Remy and Rogue at dinner, singing his niece German lullabies, playing a game or two of cards or chess with Remy, or talking to Rogue about anything and everything.  His goal of becoming closer to his foster sister had been realized better than he had ever expected.  He exchanged smiles with Rogue during the ceremony.  She knew that Kurt was thrilled to be doing this; he had told her one evening after dinner that she was more of a sister, more of a family than he had ever hoped to have.  She had to agree, it was nice to have a brother, even one that she didn't know in childhood, but in their years with the X-men, they had certainly grown up together.  She recalled how like the others, he didn't trust her at all when she first came to the X-men, not that she could blame him.  As the years had gone on and she went from being a scared teenager to a confident adult woman, Kurt had been there with her, growing and transforming himself from the impish fan of swashbuckling heros to a full-fledged man of the cloth.

Both Wolverine and Storm were thrilled and honored to be chosen to be the baby's godparents.  Each of them took turns holding baby Jessica during the ceremony.  At one point during the ceremony while Storm was holding the baby, Wolverine leaned over and whispered to Storm, "Kind makes you wish for a kid of your own, eh Ororo?"  The normally cool and composed weather goddess looked a little shocked at the comment, then smiled over at her friend.  "Logan, this is neither the time nor the place to discuss such matters!" 

"Name the time and the place 'Ro," he winked towards her before moving few steps away.****

Again, the white haired mutant looked taken aback by the comment before regaining her poises and giving him a look.

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After the ceremony, everyone headed back to the Mansion for Thanksgiving dinner.  Gambit and Jean-Grey went into the kitchen to prepare the meal while Bishop was sent in to referee the event.  For as long as anyone could remember, both had considered themselves to be the better chef, and it often ended with one or the other wearing food. {2}  But the times that they did work together in the kitchen a meal of incomparable proportions was created.  While the X-men sat around with their mouths watering for the meal, they talked, laughed, and enjoyed each others company.

"Oh Rogue, she's adorable," gushed Jubilee as the proud mother handed the baby to the younger X-man.  Because of the chaos of organizing the first school year at the new school dubbed The Xavier Institute of Education, the birth of two babies to teammates, and the other events of life, the LeBeaus had not had a real chance to show their daughter off to their friends.     

Each of the X-men took turns holding the baby.  She was fairly cranky from all the excitement of the day, making faint whimpering noises while being passed from X-man to X-man.  When she made it into Scott's arms she started wailing.  He quickly handed her off to Wolverine where she instantly quieted. "You just gotta know how to handle the kid Cyke."  Everyone laughed at the sight.  A clean cut man like Scott who was a father himself would seemingly be the natural choice for a child to be drawn to, but instead the gruff, sometimes animalistic Wolverine was the one baby Jessica was drawn to.  In fact, besides her own parents, Wolverine was the only one who could calm her down sometimes.

During the meal itself, Xavier looked around at the family gathered around the Thanksgiving table (or tables as the case may be since so many were gathered that day).  The group gathered was certainly larger than most gatherings due to the fact that Jessica LeBeau's baptism was earlier in the day.  Still, he was happy to have so many people, both X-men and non-X-men, mutants and non-mutants alike gathered together in love and friendship.  This after all, was his dream being realized.  He also couldn't believe how much had changed in the last year.  This time last year he had made the announcement of starting a new school for mutants; now the Xavier Institute of Education was in its first year and doing quite well with an enrollment of thirty high school students and one middle school student whose powers made learning in a traditional setting impossible.  Xavier hoped that with each passing year the new Institute would grow and help shape the lives of numerous young mutants who where unable to learn in a traditional school environment.  Currently he, Hank, Bobby, and Jubilee were able to handle instruction but as the school continues to grow he knew that more help would be needed.  Also at last year's Thanksgiving Jean had announced her pregnancy and Rogue was deemed incapable of having a child.  Now both women were mothers to happy, healthy children.  Xavier also reflected on the sadness that occurred in the last 365 days.  The day before Thanksgiving last year he had had dinner at the house of Congressman Jeffrey Williams to discuss the new mutant scanning technology.  While the technology hadn't been on the radar screens of the media since that time, Williams was killed out of hate for what he did to help mutants only months after Thanksgiving.  Xavier looked at the end of the table where the remaining members of the Williams family sat.  Being good friends of both him and the LeBeaus, it only seemed natural to invite them.  A year had made so much of a difference in many lives, both for good and for bad.  Xavier's thoughts were interrupted by Nightcrawler leading everyone in grace and Xavier could only hope that in the upcoming year the good would outweigh the bad.

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While dinner was being cleaned up, the mothers of the youngest three children went to Nathaniel's nursery to put the babies down for a nap.  The three babies were placed in Nathaniel's crib and they smiled as they looked at their children.  Nathaniel, David, and Jessica: This was the future that the X-men fought so hard to preserve all these years.  It was too early to tell whether all if any of them would have mutant powers.  All of them had mutant genes in their family trees, but that was not a definite indicator of future mutant powers.  One of the biggest anti-mutant leaders of all time, Graydon Creed, was the son of Sabertooth and Mystique, and he was a flatscan human.  Still, not matter what the outcome, they knew that their children were destined to be friends and as their parents, they were destined to do what they could to make the world a safer place for them.

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**Author's Notes-** In case I haven't thanked you all for reading this story lately, thank you so much!  It really means a lot to me that people are actually reading something that I thought of and put down on paper (or computer screen as the case maybe, I'll print it eventually when I am done).  I hope you are enjoying it so far, but the ride is far from over, so sit back, relax, and have fun!

{1}- Gets confusing huh, in fact, I was confusing myself when I wrote this chapter, check out chapters 3, 8, and 11 for clarification.

{2}- I know, this is more of an X-men: The Animated Series reference since there was an episode where Jean and Gambit had a colorful argument while preparing Christmas dinner, but I still love the idea of them being the competing "Iron Chefs" of the X-men.

**Ishandahalf- **Look, you are right again, Rogue can touch the baby.  I mean I couldn't be evil like that and make her unable to touch her own baby and as you picked up in my earlier hints, since she could carry this baby to term, of course she could touch it.  I sprinkle hints all over the place, that's why I am so damn predictable:-P  Glad you liked the reasoning behind the name choices, truth be told, the name was pre-chosen and I wanted to do something with the definition (I love meanings behind names) but everywhere I looked I got a different meaning so I HAD to incorporate that into the story.  It also seemed to fit as a reason for Gambit calling her his "wildcard" another preordained name that just happened to fit.

**Star-of-Chaos-** Glad that you like the name.  That's one of the holdovers from my childhood stories I created with my brother.  Any stories we ever made-up, I ALWAYS named characters Jessica or Elizabeth because I loved those names growing up.

**Tammy-** See what happens when Rogue ate all those weird foods, she starts having crazy dreams, haha.  Yeah, I can totally see Remy spoiling a little girl, I mean it just seems so natural :-)

**Kitsu Lebeau- ** Awww, thanks, your compliments made me blush :-)  Glad that I bring you into the world of the X-men.  As for Jessica's eyes, I made mention of them, but I don't see it being too big of a deal in comparison to some other stories out there, at least in my opinion.  But you are right, eyes always play an important part in these stories, what's that saying again, eyes are the window to the soul? :-)

**T- **Like I told Ishandahalf, I couldn't be evil and not let Rogue be able to touch her baby. :-)

**RealityDreamer-  **We'll just have to wait and see what happens ;-)


	18. Snapshots of Life

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike.  I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families.  Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

[[Text in these brackets denotes French.  I don't speak it and I am not even going to pretend to, so if I want to use something that isn't something I've seen in the comics or I can't find in my pocket-sized language translator, than I'll just do this.  Like for complex sentences.]]

Through the Years

Chapter Eighteen: Snapshots of Life

As the days spilled into each other and months passed, life with the LeBeaus and the other X-men went without anything out of the ordinary occurring.  All the events of life were celebrated in a way only the X-men could.  Christmas, like Thanksgiving was held at the Mansion.  Now that there were young children in their lives, the holidays held special meaning to the X-men.  No one could deny that seeing such young and happy faces gave them hope that someday the future they fought hard for would be treasured by these youngsters.  David, Nathaniel, and Jessica being under a year old each were far too young to understand what was going on, but they still seemed to enjoy themselves.  Being older, Carlie loved helping the babies open their presents and explain to them what it was that they got while they looked at her as if they understood.  The topper for the night was suppose to be Bobby's appearance at the party as Santa, much for the benefit of the children as for Bobby who connected memories of his father dressed as Santa with the happy childhood he had before his mutant powers manifested and everything changed.  With Santa-Iceman, the adults couldn't wait for some Christmas magic.  They got more than they bargained for when Bobby went to put on the suit he rented and found it to be a few sizes too small.  After finding that out, the idea was to be scrapped since the babies wouldn't know the difference anyway and Monica Williams said that she'd taken Carlie to see Santa at the local mall the other day anyway, although Bobby was incredibly disappointed.  However, Santa did make an appearance laughing jollily and handing presents to the children, as well as little surprises for the adults as well.  Always a child at heart, Bobby Drake's jaw practically hit the floor when the man in the red suit entered the room.  When Santa handed a small present to him, the man gruffly said "Merry Christmas Popsicle," and after making his rounds to everyone in the room and having pictures with the children, Santa disappeared almost as quickly as he came.

Later Wolverine came back from the bar he was supposedly at and Carlie ran up to him and told him that he missed Santa.  Then he picked her up and told her "No I didn't Darlin."  Of course, when asked about his participation in the Santa Claus fiasco, the feral X-man gruffly denied any participation; however, he did express that he was glad St. Nick appeared since he knew how important it was to everyone that he showed up and since the suit was too small for Bobby……but he never came out and admitted it.

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New Year's was also spent at the Mansion.  The "Diaper-Wearing Trio" as Bobby referred to the youngest children, spent it sleeping in Nathaniel's room while Carlie attempted to stay up with the adults, only to be found passed out on the couch somewhere around 10pm when her mother put her to bed in a cot set up in the nursery.  Of course when the big count down, champagne in hand, those old enough to stay up until midnight rang in the New Year with hugs, kisses, handshakes, clanging glasses, and other ways of expressing happiness that another year had passed and they were all together still. 

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For their second anniversary in January, Remy had plans to take Rogue out for a wonderfully romantic evening in NYC, including dinner at a fancy restaurant and a night spent in the finest hotel the city had to offer.  However, their plans were scrapped when Jubilee, who offered to baby-sit, was struck with the flu, as were her charges in the dorms of the Xavier Institute of Education.  In fact, the teens at Xavier's new school weren't the only ones hit with this flu epidemic, many of the Mansion residents were sick, and those that weren't sick were in charge of taking care of those who were.  Jean, Scott, and Nathaniel were in Alaska visiting Scott's grandparents and the William's family was out of town for one of Monica's college lectures.  As a result of there not being a sitter, the anniversary plans were scrapped and the day was spent quietly at home with the baby.  Not that either of them minded that, their daughter meant the world to them.

After putting the baby to bed and cuddling up into bed with her husband Rogue turned to him and asked thoughtfully, "Remy, ya remember our anniversary last year?"

"'Course Chere," he smiled, "How could I forget?"

"Did ya think that our lives would be like this?"

"No, I didn't.  Dis is much better," he said reassuringly as he snuggled up next to her.  "I wouldn't trade dis life of stability, of love and family, our beautiful _fille_ sleeping upstairs, none of that, for anything in the world.  [[I couldn't image being this lucky ever.  I love our life and I love you.]]"

"So ya don't miss the wild and carefree days of old," Rogue asked while giving him a teasing look.

"Not if we get to be wild an' carefree right now."

With that he leaned over to turn off the lights, pulled the blankets over a giggling Rogue, and they recaptured a portion of how their anniversary should have been spent.

Remy did have a chance to put the plans he made for the anniversary into action for Valentine's Day a month later where Monica offered to take baby Jessica for the night.

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In March, the LeBeaus, as well as the rest of the X-men were invited to David's first birthday party.  The first of the "Diaper-Wearing Trio" to walk, one-year old David toddled around the room (falling on his diapered rear-end more often than not if he wasn't holding onto the edge of something) while 8 month old Nathaniel watched in amazement and made unsuccessful attempts to pull himself into a standing position.  The little red-head's parents watch his attempts with a video camera in hand hoping to catch the moment their son would take his first steps.  They seemed unconvinced by Beast who tried telling them that it was fairly unlikely that he would walk just yet, that he would probably be unable to do so until he was closer to twelve months old.  Five month old Jessica was more than content to sit in Carlie's lap and be the captive audience for the seven-year-old's stories about her friends from school and other details that were deemed note worthy for the little girl.

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After David's party Gambit and Jessica shared some father-daughter bonding time upstairs in her room.

"Come on _fille_, say 'poppa', you can do it," Gambit said while lying on the floor of the nursery next to his little girl.  [[Now I know you can do it, just say something go on, my little Wildcard, I won't tell anyone.]]

Rogue walked in on the scene and smiled as she said, "Remy, ya know that the baby is too young to start talking!  Ya starting to act like Scott was with Nathaniel today!  'Sides, if she was going to say anything, it would be 'momma', isn't that right Shugah," she added as she picked up the little girl.

He shuddered in mock disgust as he said, "Don' compare me to t'fearless leader again!  Anyway, who says she's too young," Gambit said getting up from the floor as Rogue motioned to the baby care books that were on the shelves, gifts from the baby shower not so long ago. "Bah, experts what do dey know?  Perhaps our lil' girl is a super genius who can talk at 5 months, who knows."

"Right Remy, if ya say so," Rogue said nonchalantly as she started to change the baby's diaper.

"Well, dis does bring me to a burning question dat I've had for a while now," Gambit said as he handed Rogue a baby wipe.

"What's that Shugah?"

"Well, t'French language is an important part of my Creole culture and you know I always sing and speak to t'baby in it.  So do you t'ink we could teach it to her?"

"[[I think that when Jessica is old enough then it would be an excellent idea to teach her another language.  Lord knows that between us and the other X-men, she'll be speaking 40 languages by the time she's ten!]]  But, Ah think we have to work on getting her to crawl 'fore she'll talk.  When she's ready she can do anything."

Sometimes he forgot that Rogue spoke French as fluently as he did, whether she knew it from childhood like he did or she acquired it from a psyche she absorbed at some point before they met, neither of them knew.{1}

Freshly diapered and in her PJs, Jessica LeBeau was ready for her bedtime routine.  Gambit sat in the rocking chair with Rogue in his lap while she held the baby and began to read a storybook with colorful, vivid pictures.  They did this every night, where one or both of them would sit in the chair and read a bedtime story to the baby.  When the story was done they each kissed her on top of her head, which had started to grow some brown hair, similar in shade to Gambit's hair, but with the beginnings of a white streak that resembled Rogue's. 

**Author's Note**- Wow, I was so floored to hear that you all were glad that there is more story, I was afraid I might be boring and dragging it out or something (not that it would make a difference, because I already know what happens and I don't want to change the chapters I already finished and haven't posted yet).  Also, I was afraid I would offend people with the whole Wolverine vs Cyclops thing with the baby, but I didn't seem to.  I hate to say it, but Cyke is my least favorite X-man and I am trying not to do anything unusually cruel to him since I know there must be some Cyclops fans reading this and that isn't fair to them.

{1}- The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe X-men 2004 confirms that Rogue speaks French, I thought so from reading other fanfictions, but I wasn't sure, but now that I know it is cannon, I'll perhaps use it a little more.

PS: This goes especially for the fans of Gambit and Rogue (particularly as a couple) but Marvel might be doing some things that we might not be too happy about.  There is a link in my profile with more info than I could give you.  Check it out, thanks.

**Ishandahalf-** Hey, I'm glad my story makes you smile since your comments always make me smile! :-)  Remy's super dad, huh, well, I'm certain that he tries to be anyway:-P  Babies must be like animals, they have good taste in people, haha (in reference to your comment about her choice of Wolverine over Cyke)  On an unrelated note, I read that you graduated from high school recently, congratulations!  My brother also graduated this year, as did my boyfriend's cousin so I got to see all the graduation excitement first hand.  Enjoy it, and good luck with everything! :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** Maybe in a different story it would work to have Rogue's powers not allow her to touch her child, but not in this one, as you said it would be too cruel.  And I am sure that Gambit likes Cyke at times, like during poker games when he can take is money, haha :-)

**Tammy-** Haha, yeah I use to read those and I even had a "Sweet Valley High" board game before I was old enough to read the books, but I was a bigger "Baby-sitters Club" fan.  I know I liked the name Jessica because when I was younger "Murder, She Wrote" was one of my all time fav shows (what 5 year old not only watched but loved that show, I know I was weird) and the main character played by Angela Lansbury was named Jessica Fletcher.  But you are right, I wish there was more comic interaction between Rogue and Nightcrawler too.  It would be a nice change of pace to see some every day moment like that, you know, like what they do when they are not off saving the world :-)

**T-** They'll try to be one big happy family, but other events in life do get in the way sometimes.  But knowing the X-men, they'll make it work:-)

**Bibliothecaire-** I am so happy to hear that you glad to see another update.  I was afraid people would be like "Oh man, this is still not done yet, it already more than ten chapters and that's long!"  But I can't help it, I have a lot of plots that will ultimately connect & intertwine and I don't want to neglect any of them because then the story won't make sense!  Thanks for reading this and I hope you keep enjoying this story! :-)

**Kitsu Lebeau- **Hmm, I'll have to see if my local library has the Animated series on tape or DVD.  With my town I somehow doubt it though.  We never have any cool stuff.  Anyway, Logan or Bishop for Storm, eh, well what about Forge too?  Personally, I've always leaned toward Storm and Wolverine, even though I would secretly hope that Jean would dump Cyke and go to Wolverine.  I couldn't make up my mind for the right person for our feral friend.  I guess it really does just depend on the story.  Hope you keep enjoying this! :-)

**Karen-** Oddly enough the day before I got your comment I read about this occurrence in ishandahalf's profile page.  When I read that Marvel wanted to pull something like that I was not a happy camper to say the least (ask my boyfriend I complained to him about it, I think he thinks I lost it:-P)  I put the link you sent in my profile too so that other people can hear about it.  I wrote an email to both addresses and will be sending a letter too.  I plan to write a few more snail mail letters once I get the chance, but I want to get at least one out there first.  Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention.  Let's hope it all works out :-)


	19. Smoke and Fire

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike.  I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families.  Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

[[Text in these brackets denotes French.]]

Through the Years

**Part V**

Chapter Nineteen: Smoke and Fire

Life with a baby made time seem to fly by.  Life with two babies in the X-men's ranks as well as the children of their neighbor and ally made time to seem to almost spin out of control.  Holidays and birthdays were celebrated, everyday events were made even more special.  First words and first steps surpassed any other events that could have pleased them in the past.  The Xavier Institute of Education now had doubled its numbers from thirty to sixty and was preparing the first class for graduation and college.  The 10 person graduating class made Xavier so proud because they finally were able to enjoy school and flourish personally without worrying about whether fellow students would persecute them for being mutants.  With increasing numbers in the school it was getting harder for Hank, Jubilee, Bobby, and the Professor to keep up with the demands of the students as well as other responsibilities around the Mansion.  To help with the mechanical and maintenance needs of the school as well as the upkeep of the sensitive equipment the X-men used, such as the Blackbird, Rogue and Wolverine were hired as the resident mechanics.  Rogue was thrilled with the idea of getting back into the mechanic business.  She had thought of looking into local garages, but when Xavier proposed this idea, she jumped at the chance.  She could make her own schedule and didn't have to worry about being revealed as a mutant.  Of course, the X-men had not lost its original purpose.  Many members still were sent on missions.  Some were on special assignments that kept them from the base for months or even years at a time.  With family life changing Cyclops's life, Storm was given more responsibilities than she had in the past, not that Scott Summers would ever give up is role as leader of the X-men.  Gambit also wanted to be considered part of the team, but did so as filling in as a teacher at the school when a substitute was needed, instead of going on life or death missions.  Sure, it wasn't as heroic or as glamorous as his old missions were, but substituting would almost guarantee him getting home safely at night, depending on how rowdy the classes were.

During one lazy, spring, Saturday afternoon while putting the laundry into the washer, Rogue noticed something was different.  In fact, she had noticed it for a while, but hadn't really had a chance to think about it.  Usually laundry was done later at night while she was too tired to care, or done in a rush while Jessica was crying in the back round.  In fact, more often than not, Remy was the one to do the laundry.  But now that Jessica was spending the day with Logan and Remy, Rogue was able to get the things done around the house at a leisurely pace.  Something about Remy clothes, something that suggested he was hiding something from her.  There was something different about the smell on his clothing.  She knew his scent and there was something different about it.  And he may have been hiding this little secret of his for a while.  And she was going to confront him about it.  Tonight!

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Remy walked through the front door of the house carrying a giggling three year old on his shoulders.  He thought that spending the entire day with him and Wolverine would have worn the youngster out, but it only wound her up more.  Rogue wasn't going to be happy with that; they already had a difficult time getting their rambunctious child to bed as it was.  She never wanted to go to bed, opting instead to stay up with her parents so that she wouldn't miss anything.  Oh it didn't matter, they had a great day together.

It started off with a little father-daughter pancake breakfast in the morning while Rogue slept in.  Next came the hard part, getting dressed for their day out, after all, as Bobby put it once, "Trying to put clothing on an exciting, squirming little child is like trying to put clothing on a live fish."  After putting her in a T-shirt, jeans, and pulling her hair back with a red bandana, which was similar to the one he used himself to pull back his hair, which had grown longer lately almost to the length it was when he first joined the X-men, they were ready to go.  Rogue might have been the professional mechanic in the family, but as a motorcycle owner, Remy LeBeau did know a thing or two about fixing them.  Long ago when he still lived in the Mansion, he and Wolverine would spend hours just tinkering with their bikes, not only fixing problems, but doing anything they could to give them more power, or sometimes they'd fix up an old bike that they got from the local dump.  That was what they were doing today.  Logan had found a prime specimen ready for them to work on.  Hand-in-hand, Remy and his daughter walked down to the Mansion garage where Logan was waiting for them.  One would think that working in a garage on a motorcycle would be hard with a little girl under foot, but it wasn't.  She seemed to enjoy holding the tools they gave her, sometimes Remy would hand Jessica a wrench and send her across the garage to Logan, who would pick the toddler up, and hold her in the air, thanking her for bring him the needed tool.  When she seemed to get bored with this task, Logan brought out a surprise for his goddaughter: a tricycle and a plastic tool kit.  Now she could fix up her bike "Just like Poppa an' Uncle Wolvie!"  A few hours passed while the two men worked on their restoration and the little girl "fixed" her trike.  At lunch time, Ororo walked in to tell them that the meal was ready. 

"Time to wash up for lunch," she announced.  "You boys can handle yourselves, and I'll take the child," she said as she took the little girl's hand.

Logan was at the door as Ororo was walking out of the room and whispered in her ear, "Yer sure you don't wanna help me wash up, 'Ro," he asked seductively. 

She just glared at him as she left the room.

Logan turned around to face Remy who was trying to stifle a laugh.

"What are you laughing at Gumbo," he asked gruffly.

"Oh nothin' _mon__ ami_.  It's just dat your method of tryin' to woo Stormy is…well…" he tried saying but ended up snickering instead.

"Look, Gumbo, there's nuthin going on between 'Ro and me.."

"Obviously"

"Ok look, we aren't women, I ain't gonna sit around and talk about relationships with the likes of you."

And with that, Wolverine stormed out of the room, leaving Gambit sitting there shaking his head in disbelief, trying not to laugh.

The rest of the afternoon was fairly uneventfully, and after dinner Remy walked back to his house with a little biker babe proudly riding her trike beside him.  After putting the trike in the garage, he put her on his shoulders and walked into the house.

Sitting in the living room, Rogue heard her daughter's giggles and she got up to meet them. 

"MOMMA," the little girl squealed upon seeing her mother.  Gambit put her on the ground and she went crashing into Rogue as she hugged her mother's legs.

"Well, hey there baby girl, did ya have a nice day with Poppa?"

"Oui!"

"Well that's terrific Shugah!  Listen, Momma's gotta talk to Poppa for a minute, why don't ya go upstairs and get ready for a bath ok?  That's a good girl." The little girl ran upstairs as if the faster she made it up there the quicker her mother would be joining her.

"What is it Chere," Remy asked once their daughter was upstairs.

"Why didn't ya tell me," she asked while poking him in the chest with a finger.

He look of shock appeared on his face.  He hadn't done anything lately that he should be ashamed for.  Well, there was that time he let Jessica have ice cream for dinner when Rogue was out with the girls, but that was weeks ago.  "Tell you what?"

"When did this happen?"

"What," he asked looking genuinely perplexed by his wife's accusations.

Who else knows, you could have told me yah know."

"Rogue, I…"

"Ah had to find out from your laundry Remy!  It was all over your clothing!  Or should Ah say it wasn't all over your clothing."

He looked at her with a perplexed look on her face.  She stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around him.

"Yah quit smokin', Ah am so proud of ya!"

"Chere, you didn't know dat?"

"No Remy, ya didn't say anything about it.  Ah mean, ya always make your trips out to the porch all the time after meals and whatnot.  Ah just assumed it was for a cigarette break."

"It's just a force of habit.  I'm so use to goin' out there dat I still do so when I need a few minutes alone or I need to t'ink.

"Ah realized it today when Ah was throwing some of yoah shirts in the wash.  Usually they smell like your spicy cologne and cigarettes, but Ah noticed Ah just smelled the cologne.  Now Ah've been trying to get ya to quit for years, what changed yoah mind and when did this extraordinary event happen?"

"Well Chere, you know how you are at work all day and I am home wit' t' _fille_.  Well I was out on t'porch keepin' an eye on David an' her playing in t'yard one day a few weeks ago and she come runnin' up to me wit' tears in dose lil' eyes of hers.  She says to me "Poppa stop" and I ask her "Stop what?" and she points to t'cigarette in my hand and tells me about how one of those puppets on those kiddie shows she watches said how smokin' was bad and she didn't want me to "go to sleep forever."  But lookin' into her eyes I thought of all dose times you always asked me to stop an' I realized that I'm not Logan.  I don't have any healin' powers dat will keep me on dis earth for a long time.  I want to see her grow up, I can't make her cry like dat.  So except for the occasional cigar wit' the guys when we play poker, I'm done wit' it."

"Remy, Ah don't know what to say.  Thank ya, from both me and Jessica."

"MOMMA!!!  I'm ready," shouted a little voice from upstairs.

"Ah better get up there before she decides to start her bath without me and floods the bathroom again."  She gave her husband another hug.  "Thank ya."

"Anytime Chere, anytime," he said as he watched her make her way upstairs.

Once she was out of sight he went outside and pulled out the packet of cigarettes that he had been holding onto just in case.  Then he opened the lid to the garbage can, threw them in, and closed the lid again.  He knew he wouldn't need them.  As he headed into the house he noticed that the sky was growing overcast.  Storm had mentioned that a thunderstorm was headed their way that night.  "Better get t'petite to bed 'fore it happens" he thought to himself noting that the last time there was a thunderstorm their daughter refused to go to bed until it was over.

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After putting Jessica to bed, Rogue cuddled up with Gambit on the couch listening to the thunderstorm rage outside.  Suddenly they heard a crash upstairs, as if a lightening bolt hit the house. The first thoughts that went through either of their heads was to their little girl upstairs whom was heard crying the second they heard the explosion.  They ran into the nursery where Gambit picked up the toddler out of her bed and Rogue leaned over her to make sure she was ok.  After they checked the child over they noticed the hole in the wall by the window where the strike must have hit and the remains of a teddy bear that must have been lying by the wall.

The next morning Wolverine was brewing some coffee before he went over to the LeBeaus to help fix the wall in the nursery.  As he was pouring himself a cup he noticed Storm had entered the room and prepared a cup for her, just the way she liked it.  She thanked him as he sat down next to her.  When she asked him about his plans for the day, Wolverine told Storm about how the lightening came unusually close to the LeBeau house the night before and how he was going over to help Gambit with repairs. 

"Odd," said the weather goddess.  "As you know I am in tune with Mother Nature and I can assure you that the storm, as close as it was, was not close enough to hit the house, at least not without my knowledge."

Suspicions aroused, Wolverine's mind automatically went to plan B.  "Well if someone is messing with that family, they'll have these to answer to," he growled as he unsheathed his claws.

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**Author's Notes**- Again, for those of you who haven't heard the icky rumors about Marvel's plans for Gambit and Rogue breaking up, please check my profile for more information.  There is a link with information as well as contact info and a second link which is an online petition I came across courtesy of ishandahalf.  If nothing else, please drop Marvel a letter voicing your opinion.  The more voices heard the better!  Ok, that's the end of my public service announcement.

PS: I renumbered a few of the chapters to divide this story into the segments I planned out.  I just stuck in a "Part #" in certain chapters that I felt divided into almost separate stories themselves.  Anyway, it makes it easier for me when referring back to stuff so don't worry I didn't change anything else.

**Star-of-Chaos- **I know, I tried to explain to someone how many times Jean Grey died, and it just got confusing:-P  With all the rumors floating around about the future of Gambit and Rogue, I think you are right about Marvel not liking our favorite couple.

**Ishandahalf-** You weren't kidding when you said that they grow up so fast!  I didn't want to drag anything out and I want to get into the next plot arc, so you can see this chapter started a rapid age progression.  As for Wolverine as Santa, I can just see him doing something sweet for the children, after all, there is a heart of gold under that rough exterior :-).  As for insulting Scott in French, I'm sure they'll do it in English as well, but when he is not in ear shot of course:-P

**Le Bibliothecaire- **Thank you again for your kind words! :-)

**Tammy-** Yeah, I really hope the fans get through to Marvel too!  I was so upset when I heard the icky rumors that I wrote an email to both email addresses, wrote a letter, signed a petition, and sent a postcard from when I was on vacation this past week.  Ok yeah I have issues, but I don't want to see Marvel break them up again because I have a gut feeling that if they do that, then they won't be getting back together this time.  I hope I'm wrong!

**T- **Glad you liked it!  Hope you found this chapter just as cute!:-)

**Kitsu**** Lebeau- **Like I said to Tammy, I agree with you about Marvel's latest rumored plans for Gambit and Rogue.  Why they would do something to mess up a perfectly good combination is beyond me!  Yeah about Scott and the Emma Frost thing, I still can't believe they did that, I mean I don't like Scott, but I can't believe he'd be sleazy enough to make-out on his wife's grave with another woman.  I mean it's one thing to move on, but it's another thing to move on in such a disrespectful way!


	20. A Night of Celebration

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike.  I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families.  Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort.  When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up.  I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

[[Text in these brackets denotes French.]]

Through the Years

Chapter Twenty: A Night of Celebration

For weeks the LeBeau house was under surveillance, just in case the mysterious force that put a hole in the nursery wall was of an unfriendly sort.  But nearly a month of monitoring turned up nothing.  Storm did admit that she had been a bit distracted due to her growing responsibilities and other factors lately and that perhaps there was a slight chance that she did not detect a lightning strike in the vicinity.  Xavier also proposed the theory that Bobby and Jubilee's charges at the Xavier Institute of Education liked to experiment with their growing powers at night and perhaps one of them accidentally hit the house, though the location of the LeBeau's residence being a few miles down the road left this a slim possibility unless a student or two snuck out of the dorms.  In any case, nothing seemed to be happening that could threaten the family and life soon returned to normal.  Gambit and Wolverine repaired the damage while Rogue took Jessica to the toy store to replace the destroyed teddy bear.

A few weeks later on a dreary Monday morning the entire LeBeau family piled into the car and headed to the Mansion.  Rogue had to help Wolverine make modifications to the Blackbird while Gambit needed to cover Jubilee's classes.  As a result, Jean would be watching Jessica, who would spend her day playing with Nathaniel Summers and David Williams since his mother, a professor at a local college, had classes all day.  His sister was attended school, but Jean did have to pick her up at the end of the day and watch her until her mother's night class was finished.  Once at the Mansion, Gambit parked the car in the garage where he greeted Wolverine, kissed Rogue good-bye and watched them head to the hanger all the while discussing which modifications should be done first.  Then hand-in-hand he walked Jessica up to the Summers' family suite, greeting Beast on the way who was on his way to work in the lab before his first class of the day.  Once at the Summers' suite, he barely had a chance to say good-bye to his daughter as she sprinted away, pigtails flapping in the air, to greet her playmates.  Chuckling at his girl's energy, Gambit thanked Jean for watching Jessica, said a fast hello to Cyclops who was on his way to conduct a Danger Room session, and then headed to his first class of the morning.

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"Ok, settle down," the teacher said with the class complying faster than most high school classes should.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that this substitute had the ability to charm people into doing what he wanted, and of course he was quite good looking which aided his ability to get the attention of the ladies.  "Now, Ms. Lee couldn't be here today 'cause t'Professor sent her to recruit a few new students, so I will be coverin' her classes for the week…."  Gambit continued telling the students what they would be doing for the week and proceeded with the lesson.  When he had a second to think about it, he realized that the guys in the Big Easy would never recognize him.  Oh sure, physically he hadn't changed much, but inside he was a different person.  Now he was a married family man who (perhaps the biggest shocker) made money in an honest profession.  The same man who had been stealing valuables from the wealthiest homes in the world was now teaching Shakespeare to a bunch of mutant teens who would more than likely rather hear about his previous adventures than hear him read the works of a long deceased writer (well except for the ladies who could sit there all day listening to him read the phone book {1}).  But most importantly, Remy LeBeau was truly happy.  When the lesson ended and the students had some extra time before their next class started, Gambit allowed them to talk rather than assigning the extra work Jubilee left, he would do that tomorrow.  While his mind wandered, a voice called his name snapped him back to reality.

"Mr. LeBeau.  Mr. LeBeau?"

"Oui Miranda, what is it," he asked the young brunette gifted with the ability of flight who had recently been recruited into the ranks of the Institute.

"Well we were all talking about what we would have been doing if we weren't going to school here.  I mean, granted we'd be getting beat up for being mutants, but say we weren't mutants, we would be doing other stuff too…," the girl rambled.

"What Randi's saying, Mr. LeBeau is that if we weren't mutants we'd be regular  kids experiencing regular high school," continued Kendrick, a young man who's mutation was purely physical, that of his green-blue skin and blue hair.  He was one who didn't have any special powers, one who would have been particularly vulnerable at a normal school if it wasn't for his impressive physique acquired from daily workouts.  The word football player came to mind when looking at him.  "We'd be going to sporting events, dances, field trips, clubs, signing yearbooks, all the stuff we can't do because we are here."

"So we were wondering if you thought it would be a good idea if we like asked Professor Xavier if we could hold a prom, not just for us seniors, but for all the students, I mean there aren't like many of us.  And all the adults could come too, I mean it would be like a 'celebrating your mutantness' party," finished Vanessa, a good-natured, but slightly ditsy girl who could shoot energy blasts from her hands.

After thinking about it for a few moments, realizing that these students were crying out to feel normal, just like he and the other X-men wanted for their lives growing up, just like he wanted for Jessica, Carlie, David, and Nathaniel in case any or all of them ended up being mutants.  "Oui, I t'ink dat's a great idea.  You all deserve a night of bein' like everyone else."

"Do you think that the Prof will go for it though," questioned Kendrick.

"I t'ink t'Professor would be t'rilled dat you are strivin' t'live your lives rather dan let others tell you what you can an' cannot do."

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Midway through the day and already Rogue and Wolverine had completed the necessary modifications to the Blackbird.  Before moving onto their next project they decided that they deserved a coffee break.  While sitting in two folding chairs in the hanger next to the Blackbird, Rogue filled her friend in on details of his goddaughter from the day before.  After taking a sip from her cup she looked at her friend and nonchalantly said; "So what's with ya and Ororo lately?"

Eye glaring Wolverine grumbled, "Cajun can't keep his mouth shut."

"Whoa, easy there Shugah, Ah don't know what you and Remy discuss, frankly Ah'm shocked you discuss anything beyond yoah bikes, but Ah'm drawing on mah own conclusions."

"I don't discuss anything wit' Gumbo and I ain't discussing it wit' you," he grumbled and with that he got out of the chair and headed to the toolbox on the other side of the room.

"Now hold on there Logan," she said as she chased after him.  Ya might be trying to hide some feelings or something, but this is me, ya can't hide anythin' from me.  Besides, if ya act all suspicious with everyone who tries to talk to ya, well than you aren't hiding anything from anyone are ya," she questioned.  After reading his expression for a minute she put a hand on his shoulder and stated, "Ya like her don't ya?"

Knowing that it was no use hiding anything from the woman in front of him he lowered his head, eyes staring intently at a non-existent image on the floor.  "I can't be hurt again, Darlin'.  I've lived too long, experienced too much.  Every time I get involved with a woman, every time I allow myself to fall in love, someone gets hurt.  I can't put 'Ro through that, I can't put myself through that."

"Ah know ya've been hurt in the past, Shugah, believe me, Ah know what it's like to feel like you can never open yoah heart an' yoah life up to anyone eveah again.  But in mah opinion, yah have t'give Ororo a chance.  Yah might be surprised by the results.  Now, ya said it yoahself, ya didn't wanna talk, so we better ge working.  The broken wing on the mini-jet isn't going to fix itself."  Then Rogue walked passed him to the mini-jet, hoping that she gave her friend something to think about.

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A few weeks later the students of the Xavier Institute of Education had they're dreams come true.  The ballroom at the Mansion never looked lovelier in the eyes of those present.  Oh sure, it had been decorated more professionally in the past than with some streamers and balloons, but never had it been done with such excitement and hope that filled the students.  Slowly the students streamed into the ballroom, some in couples, others in groups of friends, wearing tuxes and dresses, lining up to have photos taken by Nightcrawler and Beast, and for the first time in a while, just being normal.  Rogue and Gambit shined on the dance floor, gracefully moving from everything from waltzes to line dances to hip-hop.  Jean sat at a table laughing with Monica Williams while watching Jessica, David, and Nathaniel dance together.  They smiled when 10 year old Carlie was asked to dance with a group of the high school girls, completely making the young lady's night.  The Professor smiled at the sight of his friends and students having a wonderful time.  It made his heart happy to see them enjoying a night of just being themselves.  After some of the students came to him with the idea of having a prom he didn't know why he didn't think if it himself.  Since tonight was such a success, he decided that it might be a good idea to have one every year.  Ororo, Bobby, and Jubilee stood to one side of the room, monitoring all activity.  Wolverine walked around the room both enjoying the sights around him and feeling uncomfortable and out of place at the same time.  As he walked passed Cyclops busting a kid trying to spike the punch, he spotted a green-blue student sitting at a table by himself, eyes intently looking at a group of girls laughing and dancing.

"What's wrong kid, why are you just sitting here while everyone else is out on the dance floor," questioned Wolverine, taking a seat next to the young man.

"Just thinking," replied Kendrick.

"'Bout what?"

"There's this girl, Randi, and I wanted to ask her to prom, but then I chickened out.  Now I want to ask her to dance, but I can't."

"Why not?  You can speak can't you?"

"You don't understand, she's a good friend of mine.  I like her a lot, as more than just a friend, but I don't want to lose what we have, you know?"

Starring at the gorgeous weather goddess across the room Wolverine replied, "Yeah I know.  Look, it's just one dance, no strings attached, why don't you just ask her and then see what happens from there?"

The blue-green boy looked at him, "You know, you're right, thanks man."  Logan watched as the young man got up, walked across the room, tapped a young brunette on the shoulder, and both wind up on the dance floor with huge smiles on their faces.

"Perhaps I should take my own advice, eh" he mumbled, as he made his way over to Storm, who was now standing alone since Bobby and Jubilee had made their way to the dance floor. "Just one dance, no strings attached."

Tapping Storm on the shoulder Wolverine cleared his throat before asking, "May I have this dance?"

"I do not know Logan, as chaperones we should be monitoring the children…"

"Come on 'Ro, would it kill ya to have a little fun," he smirked at his friend.

She smiled back, "No Logan, I guess it would not."  She extended her hand and he took it, leading her to the dance floor.

They made a slightly odd couple, she was tall and elegantly graceful in every manner, he was shorter and slightly rugged and wild despite the tux he was in.  And yet as they moved in time to the music they seemed so perfect together.  Rogue, who was dancing with her husband smiled and pointed them out to Gambit who also smiled.  They looked at each other hoping that this was just the first small step to their friends finding happiness with each other.

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**Author's Notes**- I presented a few of the mutants at Xavier's new school so you can get a feel for who the X-men spend a lot of their time with.  If some of their powers seem familiar I'm sorry, but let's not forget the Marvel constantly repeats powers, I mean I recently acquired the Ultimate X-men book that is like the encyclopedia of X-men and so many have the same powers (Scarlet Witch, Longshot, and a few others can turn probability to their favor for instance.)

{1}- That's for you ishandahalf who long ago suggested back in Chapter 9 that Remy would have girls drooling over him if he ever was a teacher. :-)   

**Kitsu**** Lebeau- **Perhaps deep down psychologically Rogue does enjoy toying with Remy.  And of course he would do anything for his Rogue, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** Perhaps, or perhaps it isn't lightning at all, hmmmmmm ;-)

**T-** Can't wait to see what happens next?  Your wish is my command :-)

**Ishandahalf****-** What?  Me?  Let something bad happen? (feigning shock)  Don't worry, I can't be too evil in this story, at least not for long.  I was hoping that people would suspect the worst in Remy's behavior only to be pleasantly surprised, my own little response to Marvel's idea of making Remy or Rogue cheat on the other.  As for the mysterious force that hit the house, we might have to wait a while for the answer ;-)

**Tammy- **I hear you about Marvel, I fear what they might do.  I just hope the fans can appeal to their sense of compassion.  Then again, who knows, maybe they are hyping it up with the intention of making them stay together, sort of like how I tried to lead everyone on in thinking that Gambit was cheating on Rogue in this chapter when all he did was quit smoking. :-)

PS: WOW!  I **NEVER** expected to make it past 100 reviews!  I was prepared to be happy with only a handful.  Thanks you guys, you are all so super, I can't wait to post a new chapter in hopes of hearing what you all have to say each time!  Keep on reading because I'm going to keep on writing, there is so much story left to tell!  Lots of love to you all!


	21. They Grow Up So Fast

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter 21: They Grow Up So Fast

A few weeks after the prom and life was back to normal in and around the Mansion. The next graduating class would be leaving at the end of the month and no one could believe that another school year was finished. It was after midnight and with any luck her charges were peacefully sleeping in the dorms, resting for the day of learning that was ahead of them. Ms. Lee, as she was known to her students was sitting at her desk finishing grading the tests she gave her class the day before. As she paper-clipped the pile together and placed it in her bag she took notice of the framed photos on her desk. The first one was of her with some of the X-men not long after she joined the team. Back then she was seen as a mall-hungry, boy-crazy Valley girl and now she was a respected teacher at the Xavier Institute of Education though she still was mall-hungry and boy-crazy. But no one could deny that she had matured a great deal since then. She then looked at a second photo. It was a photo of Kitty, Rogue, and Jubilee when they had spent one night staying up, talking and laughing, and just having a chance to act their age for once instead of saving the world. Wolverine was walking by the room at the time and they convinced him to snap this photo. It was taken not long after Illyana had died. Kitty Pryde had come back to pay her respects and Jubilee had a chance to get to know the legendary X-man. Before Jubilee had joined Kitty had been the youngest and initially Jubilee was a little jealous when she returned, but after they had a heart-to-heart, the animosity had faded. Now she and Kitty kept in touch via letters and e-mails. Jubilee loved this photo because it showed some of the youngest X-men to have ever been on the team at one time or another. Sometimes she was afraid that the others forgot that she wasn't much younger than Kitty and Rogue. They were only a few years older than her and as the years passed them by each of those years meant less and less.

Then she spotted something in the background that she had never noticed before. Bobby Drake was standing in the doorway making a face, knowing full well that the girls were taking a picture. "Bobby", she thought with a smile. He was also only a few years older than her, and had also matured a lot since then. Now he is the head of the boys' dorm. But Bobby was still as much of a clown as he was back then, constantly pulling pranks on her. The students loved this man-child that was in charge of them; though he could be serious when need be. "Oh Bobby, if only you knew," she sighed. Despite the fact Jubilee had a date nearly every night with different men, she couldn't deny the feelings she held for her fellow teammate. But she figured that in his mind she was still the teenager in that first photo she looked at. Sighing, she put the photo back in its place and got ready for bed.

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The next day was business as usual at the Mansion. Well, for the most part.

"I don't know how this happen," Cyclops said. "Honestly Jean, I left the room for one minute and when I came back I found this." He motioned to the mess in front of him. Spaghetti was everywhere, on the kitchen walls and floor, on the children's clothing, in their hair. They had managed to climb down from their booster seats and were running around the room.

"Ok FREEZE," Jean commanded as Nathaniel dumped his bowl on David's head and Jessica dropped a handful of noodles down Nathaniel's shirt. When the youngsters saw Jean, their faces reveled that they knew they were in trouble.

Jean sighed and knew that this was going to take a while. "Now I don't know what started this, but we are going to get you cleaned up first. Scott, start cleaning the kitchen and I'll take the children outside and do damage control." She took David's noodley hand on her right side, Nathaniel's saucy hand on her left side while his free hand grabbed Jessica's hand. Jean and her messy bunch marched outside while Cyclops wondered why he offered to feed the children lunch in the first place. As he got out the mop and bucket he made a mental note to schedule Danger Room sessions or meetings during lunch time from now on.

Jean took the kids to the back and attempted to hose them off rather unsuccessfully. Watching the struggle, Storm came up with a better plan and created a delicate rainfall, washing the spaghetti right off of the youngsters. They thought it was great fun running around in their underwear with a small rain cloud over their heads. Jean was glad they were standing on cement instead of the grass because she could just picture them going from a tomato sauce mess to a muddy mess. Once the youngsters were cleaned off she and Storm took them upstairs and put fresh clothing on them. Knowing that the children did not usually misbehave she asked them what made them decide that having a food fight was a good idea. Not having any type of answer, she had no choice but to give them a short time out to think about what they did. But she also knew that they were only children and children, no matter how well behaved they usually were, could sometimes cause mischief, especially when no adults were present.

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Jean was not always the one to watch the children. One day a few weeks later when Jean and her family was out of town and Remy wasn't covering any classes since the students were taking finals, he watched David and Jessica. They were in the backyard when he thought he heard the doorbell ring. A few moments later he came back outside with Nightcrawler only to find the children missing. They had been playing hide and seek but he didn't see them anywhere. Usually they hid in the bushes or behind the tree, places he could easily spot them.

"Look who came t'visit us my little Wildcard! Jessica? JESSICA ROSE LEBEAU? Where are you girl?"

"Up here Poppa," a little voice shouted. Remy looked up and saw them up in the tree.

"Petite?! How you and David get up in that tree?! Come down here dis minute!"

"We can't Mr. Remy. Jessie-Rose and I got up but…," David said.

"We're stuck Poppa," Jessica finished.

He could only imagine how they got up there. David had turned four a few months earlier and Jessica was still three for a few more months. David's ten year old sister Carlie was still at school or else he would have assumed that she had a hand in this. But the branches were low and the tree wasn't very high. Adventurous children could easily pull themselves up there by either jumping or standing on each other's shoulders. Unfortunately they were just out of his reach and he didn't want them jumping down to him. Without being asked, Nightcrawler BAMFED up into the tree and brought the children down.

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The summer sped by quickly and before anyone knew it, the school year had started up again. Early in the summer, David and Nathaniel were enrolled at the local pre-school for the upcoming school year. Upon learning this, the LeBeaus decided that it wouldn't be a bad idea to enroll Jessica. They found out that her birthday in October was barely within the age cutoff. She'd be one of the youngest in her class, but she'd be with her friends. Throughout the whole year, the X-men heard all about what the children did in school and watched breathlessly as they grew and matured over the course of the year. Even though they made other friends at the school, they were still as "T'ick as t'ieves," as Remy constantly described them.

Since the weather was pleasant that following March, Remy and Wolverine built David a club house barely off the ground at the base of a tree in his yard hoping that would keep the children out of the LeBeau's tree. It turns out that this did the trick, the children constantly sought refuge from the outside world in the club house. In that sacred little place it didn't matter that there was a world outside that hated and feared mutants, that any one of them if not all of them could be shunned someday. Right now it only mattered that David, Natey, and Jessica, or Jessie-Rose as David called her for as long as he could talk, were friends. And hopefully nothing would change that.

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**Author's Notes**- Just a light little chapter to get everyone in the mood for what's to come. Read on dear readers, read on. Since I have been unable to post lately, I posted an extra chapter today! Enjoy!****


	22. Homecoming

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

[[Text in these brackets denotes French.]]

Through the Years

Chapter Twenty- Two: Homecoming

The children continued to play and sometimes cause light mischief throughout the summer. During one rainy July weekend Gambit was walking by the living room where he found his daughter sitting on the couch, her little legs dangling off the side. He decided to investigate what kept the little girl quiet for so long.

"Whatcha got dere petite," Gambit asked as he found his daughter flipping through a book.

"Picture book," the youngster answered looking up at him with her emerald eyes.

"A picture book, you say. What kind of book, Goldilocks, Sleeping Beauty?"

No Poppa, a REAL picture book. I see pictures of you and Momma and lots of other people," she said emphasizing her point with hand gestures to show there were lots of people.

"Oh, a photo album den."

"Oui," she replied as Gambit sat on the couch next to her. She took the opportunity to scurry into his lap, open the book and point to a picture. "See, there's you and Momma and the Professor."

"Dat's right petite. Boy dat's an old picture, before you were born, back when Momma and Poppa first met." The child giggled, as if there had never been a time before she existed and that Momma had always been Momma and Poppa had always been Poppa. A quick look at the album made Gambit recall that this photo album was one filled with pictures that he and Rogue couldn't place anywhere else. There weren't from any holidays or events, just random pictures placed in there to keep them safe, not in any particular order. Most of them were older, all from before Storm formed the team to search for Destiny's Diaries so long ago.{1} For the next half hour he spent time explaining the pictures to the inquisitive youngster, telling her tales of the people in them, many of whom were people she knew but they just looked so different in the photos than the way they do now. Some of the people, such as Colossus, she would never meet and Gambit carefully told about how he gave his life "t'save all t'mutants from a bad sickness." He was so engrossed in the story telling and Jessica was so entertained by the tales that neither of them noticed that Rogue was standing in the doorway watching them. She wanted to tell them that lunch was ready, but after stumbling upon this cozy scene, she didn't have the heart to break it up. So instead she leaned against the doorframe, smiling at her family.

As Gambit turned a page in the album, a picture fell out from between some of the pages. The little girl took it in her hands and stared at it. She held it up to Gambit and asked "Who's that Poppa?"

Gambit took one look and the photo and it made his mind raced to his own childhood. "Well, dat dere is your Poppa wit' his Poppa."

"OOOOOOHHHHHH. And he lives in New Orleans right," she asked, slowly, carefully pronouncing the name of the city Poppa said he grew up in.

"Dat's right petite, dat's where your Poppa grew up."

[["Is it pretty there, Poppa?"]]

"Oui, [[it's a very special place." ]] Gambit lifted his head up and seemed to gaze into space. His eyes met Rogue's in the doorway, and he looked at the little girl in his lap and told her that it was time to eat. So she hurried off his lap and into the kitchen. Rogue patted her daughter on the head while she ran past. Gambit got off the couch and made his way over to his wife. She noticed the far-away expression on his face and asked him, "Ya alright Shugah? Ya seem deep in thought."

He stood behind his wife and put is arms around her and rested his head on her shoulder. "How would you like to go to Nawlins, just you, me, and Jessica. It's beautiful dis time of year and I haven't seen mon Pere in ages."

"Remy LeBeau, are ya homesick?"

Non, Chere. I can't be homesick when my home is right here wit' you and [[our baby girl]]," as he said that he pulled her in for a kiss. "But I do miss it dere, what do ya say? Pere and I haven't talked in years, I don't even know if he got word dat we were married, let alone that he has a granddaughter."

Rogue held her husband tightly as she said, "Ah say that we could use a vacation and that if New Orleans is where ya wanna go, then New Orleans it is!"

"I love you Chere."

Before she could answer a little voice was heard from the kitchen. "Momma, Poppa, I can't reach the 'sandmiches' on the counter! My legs and arms are too little!"

"Well den climb it like you do t'tree," Remy started to say but Rogue hushed him by saying "Don't give her any ideas!"

They chuckled as they made their way, arm in arm, into the kitchen.

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By the end of the week the LeBeaus were on a plane headed to New Orleans. If it was just the two of them Rogue would fly them herself, but she knew that a four year old would get restless in her arms after a while, so it seemed safer to take an airplane. Gambit got word to his father through a contact in the Guild. Jean-Luc LeBeau didn't have a phone since he resided so far out into the bayou on an old plantation. It was his own way of maintaining a shred of privacy while being the head of the Thieves' Guild. But Jean-Luc wasn't the only one who found out that Gambit was coming home for a visit. As much as the Thieves and the Assassins tried to keep secrets from each other, word always managed to leak out. Belladonna was furious when she heard that Remy, the man she still considered to be her husband was coming back to New Orleans with another woman! She had her spies find out as much as possible and she learned all about how her father had managed to trick her into signing annulment papers years ago and that she and Remy were no longer legally married.{2} To make matters worse, he had gone off and married that skunk haired harlot and had fathered a child with her! If she had found out about all this years ago, she would have hunted him down and made him hers again. But no matter, he was coming back to her, she would just have to sit and wait for the right time.

Determined to get Gambit back once and for all, Belladonna devised a plan so flawless that it had to work. She factored in all the variables, capture Remy's child and use the brat as ransom. She knew how Remy felt when it came to the safety of children, it was his weakness, and she could only imagine what he would do to save his own flesh and blood.

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After arriving at the airport, the LeBeaus rented a car and then drove out to the old plantation house that Jean-Luc LeBeau called home. Rogue and Jessica both slept in the car while Remy though of all how he was going to explain everything to his father, about why he hadn't been to see him after all these years. When they pulled up in front of the house Remy woke his wife and daughter to let them know they had arrived. As her parents got the suitcases out of the car, Jessica looked up at the huge house in awe.

A few moments after Remy knocked on the door, they were greeted by an older, but distinguished looking gentleman. He pulled Remy in for a hug and they exchanged some words in French. Then Jean-Luc looked at Rogue and gave her a hug as well, and told her how happy he was that she and his son finally tied the knot. Then he looked at the little girl who was staring up at him.

"Are you a king," she asked in all seriousness.

He looked at the curious child and laughed, "Non petite, why do you ask dat?"

"Cause you live in a castle," she stated while motioning to the large house.

Jean-Luc let out a hearty laugh before crouching down to her level. "And who do we have here? What's your name child?"

"I'm Jessica Rose LeBeau," she said as a matter-of-factly. "Wait, I know you, I saw your picture only you were little younger."

"Oh really," Jean-Luc exclaimed with a twinkle in his eye, "Den who am I?"

"You're Poppa's Poppa!"

"Dat's right, I'm your Grand-Pere," he said as he stood up again, "Why don' you go inside to de kitchen, Tante Mattie brought over some cookies earlier, I put dem on de table. Go have one."

"OK," exclaimed the little girl as she took off running into the house.

"Jessica Rose slow down," Rogue called after her while she smiled and shook her head as her warning went unheeded. "And one means one not six!"

[["She a beautiful little girl, looks just like her mother, smart little one too.]] But come in, come in, we have a lot of catching up to do!"

Jean-Luc motioned them to come inside and to leave there bags in the entrance.

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Remy sat in Jean-Luc's library later that night, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The day went well. He had a chance to talk with the man he considered to be his father and exchange words with each other that should have been said years ago. Jean-Luc got a chance to tell Rogue how happy he was for the couple and how he knew from the first time that he met her that she and his son were soulmates. Remy smiled as he recalled Jean-Luc sitting at Jessica's level and just talking with the little girl, trying to get to know his granddaughter. Remy aimlessly walked around the room, every so often taking an antiquated book off the shelf and flipping through it, then placing it back in its spot. Although he had a hard childhood before coming to across Jean-Luc, and even while living in the LeBeau household life wasn't always easy, he did always find solace in this room. Whenever he couldn't sleep at night, or whenever he wanted to escape his life, he would pick up a book and travel to places and times far and wide. He must have read nearly every book in here, a few of them a number of times in fact. He picked up an old favorite, _The Three Musketeers_ ,off the shelf, right where he had left it years ago, in fact, it still had his bookmark in it marking a favorite passage. Then he sat in a chair and read it for a bit, noting that the famous motto of "Les Trois Mousquetaires" should be used for the X-men as well: "All for one, one for all."

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The LeBeaus had been at the old plantation house for a few weeks and all had gone better than anyone had predicted. Remy was happy to share a piece of happiness that he recalled from his childhood with his own daughter. This was the way he always recalled New Orleans and this is the way he wanted Jessica to think of it. Since this trip went so well, perhaps others would be on the horizon in the future. One Sunday afternoon after a lovely outdoor picnic, the LeBeaus decided to take a stroll around the lake behind Jean-Luc's home. Rogue and Gambit strolled slowly hand in hand as they watched in front of them, their four-year old running, jumping, and making all sorts of hand motions as she told a story to her attentive grandfather. Remy noted how he had never seen his father so peaceful and happy before. After arriving in New Orleans he learned that Jean-Luc had retired as the head of the Guild and the leadership position went to a cousin since Remy was no where to be found. It suited him just fine, he tried to be the leader of a unified Guild with less than stellar results in the past.

"I can run really fast Grand-Pere, just like a big girl, wanna see? Right to that tree!"

"Sure petite, ready, set, go!"

He laughed as the little girl took off, a pair of pigtails flapping in the wind. Jean-Luc turned to face the couple behind him. "I wish I could bottle her energy an' sell it, I could make millions."

"Now Pere, with all your years as head of the T'ieves Guild, you tellin' me dat you need t' make millions?"

Non, but I wish I had dat energy! I t'ought I was doin' pretty good considerin' how old I really am, but she's got me beat tenfold!"

Since they were distracted, Belladonna took this as the perfect opportunity to strike. She had been watching them for weeks now, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, but it never arrived until now. She had been crouched in the tree and as the little girl came close to it she leaped down from her hiding spot and grabbed the little girl. As the child screamed she drew the attention of her grandfather and parents who all got into attack positions. Both Jean-Luc and Rogue were stanced ready for a fight and Gambit had drawn and charged a handful of cards in his hand.

"Now Remy LeBeau, what manners you have? You come all de way to Nawlins and you don' call on me, your own wife?

"LET HER GO BELLE! You know dat we are no longer married. Just let her go and get out of here."

"Non Remy, I've come t'collect what's mine, and that's you! Oh sure, I was mad atcha at one time, but now I jus' want us to be together again! I can forget that you left me for that whore, and I can ignore the fact that you fathered a child with her. In fact, I'd be willing t'raise this little one as my own. But take your time t'inkin' it over, I can wait."

With that she snapped her fingers and a large group of Assassins appeared out of no where and began attacking. The three of them each fought off their attackers the way they knew how. Gambit tossed charged playing cards, Jean-Luc ducked, rolled, and fought hand-to-hand, and Rogue flew as she punched and dropped their enemies. She made sure not to fly too close to Belladonna as to not risk endangering her child. During the melee, Jean-Luc was rendered unconscious when he was flipped by an Assassin.

Unknown to anyone present Belladonna knew that it wouldn't be easy getting Remy back, so she took extreme measures to ensure her victory. Being the head of the Assassins Guild she found someone who could give her great technology in order to assure a speedy escape. She somehow acquired a hover craft that was strapped to her feet and allowed her to float above the fight. Gifted with the ability to emit plasma blasts, she also found someone to increase her powers tenfold, if only temporarily.{3} She did this as soon as her Assassin forces were defeated. Belladonna rose into the air above Gambit and Rogue and shot powerful plasma bolts at them. They screamed in agony as the power of the attack increased with every passing second.

"If you don't leave her for me, I will kill you where you stand, but don't worry I won't kill your _fille_. I'll do somet'in' much worse. I'll raise her as my own t'despise you, dat is worse dan any death, don't you t'ink. To have someone you love hate you?

Child in hand, Belladonna started to laugh wickedly. "Remy you have no choice but t'obey me! I have your daughter."

"LEAVE MY POPPA AND MOMMA ALONE!" The child screamed. Her cries were not heard over the noise of the wind and waters of the lake, as well as Gambit and Rogue's own screams. It is said that mutant powers are often triggered at the onset of puberty or during a life threatening or greatly traumatic experience. For Jessica Rose LeBeau this experience was now. The little girl's eyes changed from green to red. Belladonna didn't realize that by holding the child by her exposed arm, she spelled out her own doom. Her lifeforce flowed into the child and rendered her powerless. The attack on Gambit and Rogue stopped immediately. Jessica cried out, fell off the hoverboard, and began to fall unconsciously to Earth. Concerned with her own saftely Belladonna sped away as fast as possible allowing the child to drop to the ground. Jean-Luc picked a good moment to regain consciousness as he sprung forward with the quick reflexes of a thief and caught his falling granddaughter just in time. Jessica opened her eyes, which had revered back to their green color, and began to cry.

{1}- the basis of X-treme X-men

{2}- Chapter 4 of this story

{3}- I had to look up Belle's powers on a website, but I made up the part about her powers being made more powerful only because I didn't know how strong her power was. I figured, it was more menacing to make her temporarily strong.

**Author's Notes**- I learned after writing this chapter that Jean-Luc LeBeau died at some point in the comics, but I really liked this chapter and didn't want to change it. This was my first stab at some sort of action. I mean I can't keep writing about the X-men without infusing some action after all. PS: Any limited French in here is from my electronic language pocket sized translator. Blame it if it is wrong.

**Ishandahalf****-** What, you think that I enjoy keeping you all in suspense?! Maybe a little on some level, but I stink at keeping things like this secret, I'm sure I'll slip if I'm not careful. Oh and I totally wish I had a professor like Gambit, you are right that'd be great! As for Storm and Wolverine, we'll have to wait and see what develops on that front. :-) PS: Your latest story is driving me NUTS (in a good way), I can't seem to get enough of it! Keep up the great work!

**Kitsu**** Lebeau-** Don't look at me to draw it, I am no artist at all! But still a dressed up Remy is always good stuff. Hope you enjoyed the JELL-O. Personally, I'm a bigger fan of the pudding…hmmmm chocolate pudding! :-)

**Tammy-** Hmm, maybe it's Magneto and maybe it's not. I promise, it will be reveled though in the future so stay tuned. I think you will all be a bit surprised. I really hope that Marvel keeps Gambit and Rogue together. Hopefully people are still emailing/writing to Marvel and expressing their opinions. But in the end the fans can only do so much. PS: Back in Chapter

Five, I promised you that there would be an appearance of Belladonna, so just letting you know I am now making good on that promise :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** Yeah, I definitely thing that Logan and Storm would make a nice couple, and maybe I missed it, but I don't think that the comics ever really touched upon it. :-)

**T-** Me too, all the X-men deserve some happiness! :-)


	23. Repercussions

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Twenty-Three: Repercussions

More often than not, Jessica LeBeau spent day after day with her friends. Sometimes they all spent the day at the Mansion, sometimes in the LeBeau's backyard, sometimes at the Williams' house, and of course at school where the kids were attending kindergarten. Where ever they played, the children seemed to live in their own little world, oblivious to anything that didn't have to do with the games that they played. Gambit and Rogue were particularly thankful for this. They were afraid that their encounter with Belladonna a few months ago and the manifestation of Jessica's absorbing powers would have a negative effect on her life. They didn't want her to have to grow up too fast, they wanted her to enjoy her childhood in a way that they never could. But Hank examined her upon their return to New Orleans and found nothing out of the ordinary.

"From what I can conclude," Dr. McCoy told her worried parents after examining the day they returned from New Orleans, "the manifestation of Jessica's absorption powers might have been a one time event until she reaches puberty. After all, that is when a mutant power normally manifests. Unless…"

Hank used one other piece of technology on the little girl. It was combined with Shi'Ar technology and was considered to be the most powerful scanner of mutant powers on Earth. Those anti-mutant groups would need decades to develop a piece like this. All they had was something that detected mutant genes inserted into rats. This scanner was the only thing that could detect powerful X-genes in Alpha mutants such as the X-men. With this powerful scanner Beast determined that Jessica LeBeau did in fact have an active X-gene, a very active one. Fortunately it seemed that Jessica's absorbing powers were different from her mother's. She didn't seem to retain the persona of Belladonna in her mind, much to the relief of her parents, especially Gambit who feared his daughter channeling the personality and memories of his ex-wife. As a result of her inability to maintain a persona, Hank determined that Jessica's powers were not as powerful as Rogue's. And since her absorbing power wasn't as strong as Rogue's Jessica would have to concentrate to make it work, the power wouldn't work automatically like Rogue's. But if Jessica's absorbing power wasn't as strong as her mother's she must have a secondary mutation that made her so powerful. In either case she couldn't call on her powers just yet. It seemed too unstable, especially for someone her age. They realized this a few days after the LeBeau's return from Louisiana when Rogue went into the little girl's room and realized that she was cold to touch. After taking her daughter's temperature and noting it was well below a healthy range she rushed the child to the Mansion.

"Hank, Hank, what's wrong with mah baby," Rogue questioned as Hank did ran some test. "Why is she so cold?"

"Well," he said taking his glasses off and looking straight at Rouge, "after running a few tests, it would appear that little Jessica's powers are the cause of her anguish. She has so much power flowing through her, more than anyone could ever imagine. I can't even get a reading on her, she show up as a flatscan human, but we have all witnessed the fact that she is a mutant. It can only be seen using my unique Shi'Ar hybrid scanner. All that power flowing through her little body takes a lot of energy, more energy than she can really muster, and as a result her body becomes very cold."

"Will she be alright?"

"As she grows, perhaps she will adjust to her power levels, don't forget her power manifested at an age far younger than the norm. Once she reaches an age closer to puberty she will have better control over her powers and her body will cope much better. But until she reaches that point all we can really do for her is to keep her warm."

They were so busy discussing the small patient that neither heard the Professor enter the room. "Or perhaps there is another temporary solution," he said gaining the attention of Hank and Rogue.

For now Xavier was able to put mental blocks in the little girl to keep her powers from emerging too quickly, just like he had done with Jean when she first manifested her powers at a rather young age. But how long those blocks lasted depended on how quickly her powers developed. In fear of the mental blocks failing, Gambit and Rogue tried their best to explain the situation to the six-year old, telling her that she shouldn't try to use any powers that she thinks she might have because it might hurt her since she was so young.

Unbeknownst to the adults in her life, Jessica LeBeau didn't heed their advice. Like any curious child she assumed that the rules only applied when the grown-ups were present. She practiced channeling some flow of power whenever she could get some time alone, usually around bedtime, or when playing in the woods by her house but being so young she really didn't know what she was doing. It was only known to her what she could truly do.

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Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen after the LeBeau's encounter with Belladonna over the summer. Holidays, birthdays, and the school year marched on uneventfully. Hank McCoy sat at a desk in the Rec room pouring over some research one February evening. Most people would find his constant work of scientific pursues tiresome, but he didn't. He worked in his lab for pleasure as well as for his profession. It was essentially who he was and he loved it. He was feeling a mental block and decided to take his paperwork to the desk in the Rec room as a change of scenery. The evening news was on and Logan was playing pool against Bobby Drake. He barely knew they were there until Bobby said something that caught his attention.

"Hey Hanky-Panky boy, isn't that your lovely lady friend on TV"

Hank turned around to hear an announcement that he wouldn't have missed for the world.

"…sources confirm that this new research lab is being funded by the Friends of Humanity in hopes that scientists can one day identify a mutant using a simple body scan. The progress of the technology, which was made public nearly eight years ago, has been kept fairly secretive since. However we have reports that they have moved passed being able to detect mutant genes inserted in lab animals. Sources will not confirm anything passed this point. We will keep you updated as the story continues to develop. For Channel Four news this is Trish Tilby, back to you Sue."

Trish Tilby. It had been how many years since he had seen her face? Last he had heard she was in talks with networks to get a talk show deal but he also hadn't watched much TV over the years. Most of his news came from his science journals and newspapers. How long had she been with Channel Four? She had been his on again, off again girlfriend for many years and surprisingly never seemed to care that he was a mutant. Not only was he a mutant, but he was one that couldn't pass as normal. She still looked the same as she did the last time they broke up, still just as lovely in his eyes. When he was with her he forgot everything else. Science wasn't his first love when she was in his life. As sad as it made him feel to see her again, it also made him happy. Seeing her reminded him that there was life and enjoyment outside of the lab. He momentarily sat and reminisced about his life with Trish. Then a few minutes later he got up and walked over to his friends playing pool.

"I realize that you already are in the process of play a game but would you mind if I joined you when this one is finished?"

Hank's interest in their game sparked curiosity in both Logan and Bobby. Usually Hank had to be dug out from his research and practically clubbed and dragged to do anything remotely fun.

"Tell ya what McCoy," Logan said as he set up the balls for a new game. "We'll start one now. Drake was going to lose anyway."

Bobby tossed Hank a cue stick and feigned anger. "No way old man YOU were going to lose. Just to prove my superiority over you I will cream both of you!"

The three friends laughed at his idle threat as they began their game. Passing by on his way to Hank's lab to see if he had heard the news about the FOH openly backing scientific research Professor Xavier spotted them in the Rec room. He smiled and decided it was best to let his former students, his friends to continue what they were doing. Talking to Hank could wait.

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Jackson Porter stood watch as the nurse set up the needed equipment. For the students it was just a standard physical examination. But for the administration and his organization, the Friends of Humanity, it was a day in which history would be made. For the first time the mutant scanning technology would be put into use on a large scale. It was better that the parents didn't know the school was running these tests. If word got out that they were keeping records of mutant manifestations, those who have mutant bloodlines would pull the children out the day of the tests. Someone would more than likely tout some ethical crap about this being against the law. All that he cared about was keeping the population safe against the mutant menace. That was his law and that was what he was going to enforce. A retired police officer, he even looked the part of a an old-time detective complete with a hat and trench coat. Now he helped run security detail for the FOH full time. Since he was considered to be one of their most loyal members he was even put in charge of arranging this project with the Westchester area public school systems. There were operatives in nearly all school districts in New York state and with any luck it would eventually spread to New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and eventually past the East Coast and across the nation. He smiled at the thought of a world free of mutants, but it would take time and he probably wouldn't see it in his lifetime, but maybe by the time his grandchildren were his age it would happen.

The nurse called in the students one by one. The standard hearing and vision tests were given as well as recording height and weight. What the students didn't know was that attached to the scale was a scanner that would detect active X-genes. They were instructed to take off their socks and shoes to get an accurate measurement of their height and weight, but what they didn't know was that by exposing their flesh to the scale it could get a DNA reading. The technology was only in its infancy so it could only detect a gene in use by a mutant that was not very powerful or it could detect a non-power mutation, most of those were physical anomalies, such as wings, tails, gills, and other things that could be seen without the aid of the scanner. Porter as well as the higher ups in his organization thought it was important to start these scans on the youngest children even though there was a slim chance any of them were mutants. He wanted to get a record started for them so that as technology improved and the children matured, then the mutant menace could be nipped in the bud just as it started. He was lucky that a number of school officials were either members of the FOH or at least supporters of their cause. It was the only way something like this could ever be allowed. Even the non-FOH members agreed to these scans because it meant protecting children from mutants. As the nurse ran a series of hearing tests on a skunk-haired little girl he whispered to the nurse, "Everything seems to be in order. I'll be back tomorrow for the results." He then tipped his hat to the nurse and the child. The nurse nodded in acknowledgement and the little girl smiled and waved. Porter smiled back, the little girl reminded him of his own daughter when she was that age. He silently vowed to keep the world safe for people like them as he made his way out of the office.

Later that day Rogue prepared a snack for her daughter who would be home soon. She and Logan didn't have any work to do today so she told Jean to drop Jessica off at their house after school. Remy would be at Xavier's School until dinner time so this would allow her to have a chance to spend some quality time alone with Jessica. No sooner had she finished putting the cookies on a plate did she heard the door close. Rogue went left the kitchen and spotted the girl taking her shoes off and placing them next to the door.

"Well hello Shugah!"

"Bonjour Momma," she exclaimed as Rogue bent down for a hug. "Would ya like a snack, then ya can tell me about yoah day. How's that sound?"

"Great! And then you can tell me about your day, Momma."

Rogue chuckled at her daughter's sincerity as they made their way to the kitchen. Jessica sat down at the table while Rogue poured milk into both their glasses. Then she took a seat next to her daughter whom had already started on the cookies.

"So how was yoah day?"

"_Bon_ Momma," answered the little girl, more concerned with eating her afternoon snack than talking.

"Anythin' interestin' happen?"

"Nope. Oh wait yeah."

"And what was that?"

The cookies were now gone from the plate and the milk emptied from the glass, so her daughter was now more receptive to the idea of having a conversation. "At recess this kid Max ate a bug and the teacher made him go to the nurse. Oh yeah before that we had physicals today," Jessica giggled at her next realization, "So that means Max went to the nurse _deux_ times today!"

Recalling the memo sent home from school about the yearly physical which was nothing more than a few minutes of eye charts and hearing tests, Rogue was more concerned with the boy who ate a bug.

"Was this boy alright aftah eatin' a bug?"

"Sure, he was back in class later that day. He probably passed his physical too. Natey, Carlie, and I passed. But David failed his, he had to take a note home to his mom and everything!"

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"Oh sure Rogue, I heard all about the bug eating fiasco," Monica Williams said during her phone conversation with her neighbor and one of her closest friends. She had first met the skunk haired woman as Anna LeBeau, but upon finding out that she was one of Xavier's X-men and that Anna was just an alias, she got into the habit of calling her Rogue as well. In fact, Rogue only used the name Anna in places where a name like Rogue seemed unfitting, such as at Jessica's parent-teacher conferences. Even the guys at the garage in Valle Soleda called her Rogue in their letters to her. She had explained to them long ago her true reason for moving back east and they all understood. Most of them were either mutants or had mutants in their family so they understood. She made a mental note to send them Jessica's newest school photo. They always sent her pictures of their kids and little gifts for Jessica. Monica spoke again snapping Rogue back to reality.

"It's amazing how something like that can be the highlight of a kindergartener's day," she laughed.

"Ya've got that right Shugah. Actually Jessica seemed pretty impressed by the physicals today too. And we all know how routine those are."

"Hmmm, yes," Monica's tone quickly turned somber.

Recalling what Jessica had said about David, Rogue carefully asked, "What's wrong Monica, somethin' happen?"

"Oh no Rogue, it's just that David brought home a note from the school nurse. He failed one aspect of his physical. I have to go in tomorrow morning to talk to the nurse."

"Good luck with that."

"Thanks. Well I'd better get going, time to tuck the little rug-rats in. Talk to you tomorrow."

"G'night Shugah."

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**Author's Note- **Time marches on for the X-men yet again…Hope I explained things alright here. I don't exactly know what happened with Trish Tilby, so I fabricated from what I had found out. By the way, what is with not allowing dashes to separate scenes? I had to replace them with X's. Oh well, that's life.

**Kitsu**** Lebeau- **Yeah I realize that the detail was lacking a little bit, but I didn't want to give away all the goodness too soon. Sometimes I'm afraid I go into too much detail. Jessica's powers, as well as the possibility of the other children having powers and the developing relationships of the X-men with each other will be revealed in due time. But let me know if I missed anything along the way. I write the chapters out of order (the last chapter of the entire story was the first one that I wrote) so I might accidentally forget to tie up an end. If I do, I will do my best to fix it :-)

**Tammy-** Don't worry, I think Belladonna will be too ashamed to show her face for quite some time. After all being beaten by a four-year old has to be a shock to her system. Thanks for explaining some of the "dead or alive" Jean-Luc LeBeau controversy. The one site I stumbled upon said that he was dead so I just assumed it was right. But your explanation makes sense and does sound somewhat familiar :-)

**Ishandahalf- **Nah, you didn't miss anything, I just wanted to make up for my inability to post anything lately. I hope I did a reasonable job explaining Jessica's powers, but don't worry, once Hank finds out more info it will be better explained.

**T-** I agree, I don't think that attempted murder and kidnapping is a healthy pastime for Belladonna. She should take up a hobby, basket weaving or something :-)

**Star-of-Chaos- **Hmmmm, wench seems to be the word of the day to describe Belle, a number of people seemed to have used it. It is fitting. I just read a comic called "X-men: The End #1" and it hints slightly at Wolverine and Storm together. I picked it up on a lark so I really don't know what is going on in it.

**Le Bibliothecaire-** Nah, not following Elvis and I wasn't abducted by aliens, I don't think anyway, though I do know some people who might argue that point, haha. :-P I'm honored that my story is one of the few that you are reading. Personally I think that the stranger in the Rogue comic is her relative, my boyfriend suggested it could be her brother. Anyway, hope you keep enjoying this story! :-)


	24. Sinister Encounters

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Twenty-Four: Sinister Encounters

Jackson Porter showed up at the nurse's office of the local elementary school bright and early the next morning to collect the results of the scans. He waited outside the office while the nurse talked to a blonde haired woman with her son.

"I'm sorry to tell you Mrs. Williams, but David is going to need glasses. He had trouble seeing some of the biggest letters on the chart and I'm worried that he will get worse if he doesn't get treated soon."

"Ok, I'll make an appointment with an eye doctor and get him in as soon as possible." She shook the nurse's hand and thanked her. She took her son's hand and passed Porter on her way out. He tipped his hat in acknowledgement.

The nurse saw the man and hoped that this would be the last time she'd have to see him this year. She hated the thought of clandestinely testing these children for the mutant gene. Personally she accepted mutants as just another form of humanity. In her book a mutant was no different than any other person with his or her own gifts. But this was her job and if the school board ordered her to do this, then she knew she had no choice. Luckily from what she knew about mutations, she knew that children in her school were too young to manifest any powers so she knew that she was handing over useless data. She just feared for the older children at the other schools.

"Good morning, Nurse Magee."

"Mr. Porter."

"Are the results ready?"

"Yes they are."

"And.."

"Not one child in the entire preschool through 5th grade is a mutant."

"As we expected at this age, but this is just a start. Someday we might find out more. For instance, I am on my way to the middle school and the high school right after this. Now I know we'll find a mutant or two in those schools. Some day we'll all be safe due to this technology. May I have the results now?" She handed the folder to Porter. He tipped his hat at her and said goodbye as he made his way out the door. Before he left he turned back to her and said "See you next year."

Once he was out of earshot she muttered sardonically, "Great, can't wait." She then prepared the office for another day of upset stomachs and cuts and bruises.

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One weekend three months later, that April, the LeBeaus visited their friends at the Mansion. While Nathaniel and Jessica played outside, the adults sipped some coffee and chatted in the kitchen.

"Tag Jessica, you're it," Nathaniel Summers squealed in delight. He then darted from side to side to stay just out of her grasp.

"No fair Natey," Jessica accused, though smiled with glee. "You're bigger, I can't catch you!" Despite the warm spring afternoon she was wearing a heavy sweater, a hat, and gloves. Today was a "cold day" for her. In other words her power levels were up. If Rogue had her way Jessica would be wearing a coat too but the little girl adamantly refused. Rogue could have sworn Jessica sounded just like Remy in the manner she argued, including muttering in French, and the thought had made her smile.

"Ok," he said as he stopped running. Unlike his friend the young Mr. Summers was wearing a T-shirt and jeans and was sweating in that. "New game then," before he could continue an object on the ground caught his attention. Like any young boy Nathaniel Summers was intrigued by items found on the ground, in fact his pockets were usually crammed with rocks, rubber bands, and other items he found floating around. Jean always took extra care checking his pockets before putting is clothing in the laundry. She learned that the hard way when the washing machine broke one day due to excess pocket treasures. "Here Jessie, I want you to have it, it's pretty."

He handed the little girl a small flat gray stone speckled with pink spots. "_Merci_ Shugah! I like it," she replied shoving it into one of her own pockets and giving her friend a hug. "I have an idea, HIDE AND SEEK!!!"

"OK," he screamed back. "YOU COUNT!"

Meanwhile in the Mansion kitchen Ororo Munroe, Logan, Scott Summers, his wife Jean, Remy, and his wife Rogue sipped coffee and talked about various matters. They were having a little celebration in honor of the first honest, full time job that Remy LeBeau ever had. Starting the next school year he would become a Literature teacher at the Xavier Institute of Education. Since the school's population kept growing, more teachers were needed. Because of his credentials and his experience working with the kids as a substitute, Xavier felt he would be the perfect choice.

"Remy, we are all very proud of you," Ororo Munroe said as she smiled at one of her oldest friends. She knew that he had changed over the years, but he still had that same mysterious, mischievous manner. Marrying Rogue and having a family certainly changed him for the better, but to her he was still that same thief from New Orleans; just as she was still orphan goddess from Kenya deep down inside. No matter how much things changed, they still stayed the same.

"Yeah Gumbo, yer first honest job, someone should call 'Ripley's Believe It or Not!' And an English teacher no less! You can barely speak the language, bub," laughed Logan as he joked with his friend. Logan, codename Wolverine, put on a tough exterior but deep down he cared for his friends, and they all knew it.

Remy took a sip of his drink before responding. "I'm teachin' t'finer points of literature, not common grammar. But perhaps you should sit in on one on my classes, you might learn somethin'_ mon ami_," Remy joked back.

They all laughed and then moved onto a new topic.

Clearly bored of the conversation and curious as to what his daughter was up to since he heard them screaming something about hide and seek, Remy decided to gracefully excuse himself from the room.

Well, I t'ink dat I'll join the kids outside in deir game," Remy said as he excused himself from the table.

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A glance into the woods behind the Mansion revealed a pair of shining red eyes. Jessica knew the she was supposed to be looking for Nathaniel, but sometimes her father did join in their games without notice.

"I see you Poppa! Here I come!"

The six year old ran over to the woods as fast as her little legs could carry her, hoping to run into the arms of her father, what she got instead was the scare of her life when the figure stepped out of the shadows and reveled to be no one other than the Boogie Man himself; those stories Uncle Bobby and Aunt Jubilee told to scare them were true after all! She didn't even have a chance to scream as he grabbed her, scooped her up and made his way towards the frightened Nathaniel standing in the clearing behind her.

"RUN NATEY RUN! Don't let the Boogie Man catch you!"

Nathaniel Summers screamed, turned, and ran as fast as he could, but a six year old is no match for a grown man. The scary man soon grabbed him as well. It wasn't the first time he had seen the man, something about him seemed familiar. That's it! Mommy and Daddy showed him a picture of this man once, told him to be careful of him, that he wanted to hurt Mommy and Daddy a long time ago and he might want to hurt him as well. That thought scared him more than he could ever dream of. In fact, he was so scared that he couldn't think, couldn't move. Jessica on the other hand, didn't seem paralyzed with fear as she desperately tried to wiggle out of his grasp. Nathaniel couldn't understand why she was fighting so hard, it would just make things worse, he knew it. It was better to wait for Mommy, Daddy, and everyone else to arrive. Jessica couldn't understand why Nathaniel wasn't putting up more of a fight, last time a bad person grabbed her, she fought and she won.{1} Jessica swung at their captor, unfortunately her reach was a little short and she kept missing, "Let us go! You're a bad man and we don't want to go with you!"

Their captor just laughed a sinister laugh, "You have spunk, a fearless energy about you. You better settle down or it will someday get you into trouble."

Jessica thought to herself this wasn't the first time a bad person grabbed her, last time something happened that made the bad lady let go. If she thought hard enough she could do it again. Momma, Poppa, and the others told her not to try to use her powers, but she often did it anyway, she couldn't help it. She took off the gloves she was wearing and dropped them on the ground. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out the stone that Nathaniel had given her earlier. She had seen Poppa do it lots of times, and she had tried it once before, but nearly destroyed her room and blew up her favorite teddy in the process.{2} Maybe she could get it right this time. Had her captor looked down he would have noticed that the little girl's eyes had shifted from green to red. Nathaniel's eyes grew wide as he noticed what his friend was doing. He had seen the adults use powers but never someone his own age. She charged the stone in her little hand and threw it at the man.

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Gambit didn't even make it out of the kitchen before a scream was heard, though it wasn't the type of scream he heard earlier. Those were screams of joy and laughter. This was Nathaniel screaming in terror.

He was the first one out the door while Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Cyclops, and Jean abandoned the coffee they had been drinking and ran towards where they last saw the children playing. For all of them, especially Cyclops and Jean-Grey, their worst fears were realized.

Cyclops bellowed at his nemesis, "LET THEM GO SINISTER, DAMN IT! They're just children! You know I'm the one you want, that's always the case."

"Don't be so vain Mr. Summers. Why should I want you when I have in my possession what I always dreamed of, the offspring of you and Jean-Grey. With him I will achieve what I couldn't do with the child of you and Ms. Grey's clone. I will create the perfect fighting force and…"

He was cut off mid sentence when a small charged stone hit him in the face, exploding on impact, temporarily blinding him. The distraction caused him to lose his grip on the children and give the X-men the opportunity they needed to strike. Being the faster runner Nathaniel sprinted into the safety of his mother's arms, but being smaller and slower, Jessica was grabbed again by Mr. Sinister. He lifted her up and bellowed "I'LL TEACH YOU TO INTERFER WITH MY PLANS!!!!!" Before the X-men could do anything he zapped the little girl with powerful plasma bolts {3}. The pain was more than her little body could bear and she tried to think of the last time she felt safe. She recalled the club house in David's yard and how they could hide there from the world. David was a big boy; nearly a year older than her, he would save her.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" Jessica's screams were more than her parents could bear, but before they could act Sinister released her and she felt in a heap to the ground.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Everything seemed to happen in slow motion, and yet it all happened so quickly. Rogue flew at Sinister with a punch that knocked him off his feet while Gambit scooped the little girl off the ground and raced her to the infirmary. The rest of the X-men proceeded to attack Sinister while Jean told Nathaniel to get in the Mansion before joining the fray herself.

Unaware of the action going on several stories above him, Beast was analyzing some samples in his lab when Gambit crashed into the MediLab and placed his unconscious daughter on the hospital bed.

"Oh my stars and garters! What happened," Beast exclaimed, noticing that the girl looked unnaturally pale and wasn't moving.

Between breathes Gambit choked out, "Sinister…attacked…save her Beast…"

Dr. McCoy took Jessica's hat off, placed it to the side, and quickly got to work…

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"POW!! BAM!!! BOOM!!! You're dead," David was playing with action figures in his club house, completely unaware of the real action happening down the street.

"NeeeeeeeaaaaaOOOWWW KAPOW! He pushed up his glasses as they started to slide off his nose. All of a sudden he dropped his toys because he felt that something was wrong. He didn't know what it was or how he knew but Jessica was hurting, he just knew it! She was his best friend, and he had to do something. Suddenly he felt something and it told him what to do. He ran from the club house and sprinted to the Mansion down the street as fast as he could…

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With the rage that filled them, the X-men fought off Sinister and he retreated, vanishing as quickly as he had arrived. When one of their own was in trouble, the X-men knew how to act, but when helpless children, THEIR children were in danger, then nothing would keep them from moving heaven and earth to defeat their enemy. Once Sinister had teleported out of there by pressing a button on a device in his hand, the X-men rushed back into the Mansion. Jean and Cyclops when to check on their son while Rogue raced to the MediLab in the subbasement. Wolverine and Storm went to alert the others of what happened, and to make sure that Sinister was indeed off the Institute grounds.

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Rogue ran over to Gambit and he held her in his arms. She entered the room just in time to see Beast turn towards them. He had tried everything he could, but the machines kept spitting out the same readout. He tried to stop her from flat lining, but there was nothing he could do. Beast looked at the LeBeaus with the saddest eyes they'd ever seen. His eyes watered up as he said, "I…I'm afraid she's gone, I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could do but there just isn't." He looked away from their gaze and buried his head in his hands.

Gambit reached over and grabbed Beast by the collar of his lab coat, "NO! You HAVE t' do somet'in' Hank, save my baby please. DO SOMET'IN' DAMN IT!" His red-on-black eyes filled with tears when he realized the doctor had done everything possible. He saw her hat lying in the same spot Beast had put it down. With one hand still holding onto the collar of Beast's lab coat, Gambit picked the hat up and clutched it tightly against his body. "Please…MON DIEU!!! WHY!!!" He loosened his grip on his friend and Beast wrapped his arms around the grieving father.

Rogue almost seemed oblivious to her husband's actions. She walked across the room and sat on the bed next to the body of her daughter. Her little girl, the miracle baby she had managed to give birth to six years ago. She felt nothing, just numbness. She held the little girl's hand in hers. Besides Remy, Jessica was the only other person that she could touch without a barrier. That's because the little girl was a piece of each of them, created out of love. Then she pushed some hair out of the child's face. It was that white streak, the same one that she herself had. It constantly fell into Jessica's face the same way Rogue's own did, as if the streaks had a mind of their own. The only difference was that Jessica's white streak was embedded on a background of brown hair the same shade as Remy's instead of her own chestnut color. She looked so peaceful, as if she was sleeping. Underneath those eyelids were green eyes the same shade as her own. Everyone always commented that Jessica is…Jessica was…a carbon copy of herself. But Rogue knew better. This was definitely Remy's child. She had that same mischievous nature, that same fire for life. She was a risk-taker, lived and loved as if everyday was going to be her last; in this case it was her last day.

Rogue looked up and saw David running into the room as fast as his little legs could carry him. "Where's Jessie-Rose," he asked. He called her that from the minute he learned her name. He kept trying to say Jessica Rose and always ended up with the same results. The nickname stuck. Rogue's eyes started to well up as she realized that she would have to explain to this little boy that his best friend was dead. _HER_ baby was dead! The only child she could ever have was gone!

Rogue got off the bed and caught the little boy in her arms and held him tight. "Ah'm afraid she's… she's gone Shugah." Rogue said choking back tears. She then explained carefully that Jessica was hurt very badly to the point where she would never wake up again. "She's gone," Rogue repeated as the tears fell.

Even though he understood the concept of death, after all his own father died when he was a baby, David seemed undeterred by what Rogue told him. "No she's not gone, she's right here, Ms Rogue." He said pointing to his head

"Oh sweetie, Ah know that ya'll always remember her…"

"No, I mean she's IN my head."

Gambit and Beast both turned towards the little boy.

"What do you mean, petite," Gambit asked crouching down to the youngster's level, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"I mean she's in my head…REALLY in my head."

The little boy wriggled free from the LeBeaus' grasp and ran over to the bed where his friend lay. He straddled over her body and he put his hands on her head. Moments later the little girl began to cry.

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Although they weren't sure what happened, the X-men found out that the little girl had somehow transferred her being into a portion of David's mind. Professor X had realized that Nathaniel, David, and Jessica shared a special bond of friendship, but he never realized that it extended to this sort of action. After analyzing both David and Jessica's minds a few days after she healed from her physical wounds, Beast had a theory though. It was widely suspected that Gambit had slight telepathic abilities since he was able to charm people. Beast figured that Jessica probably had a stronger form of her father's telepathic abilities, thus causing her to transfer her essences temporarily into her young friend. But know one knew if this was a one time event or if this could happen again. Only time would tell what really happened.

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**Author's Note-** Round and round this story goes, where it stops, nobody knows! :-P

{1}-Ch 22- Jessica's absorption powers kicked in during an encounter with Belladonna

{2}- End of Ch 19: Yes that was the mysterious force that destroyed a wall in Jessica's room. SURPRISE!!! Guess her powers have been around longer than the incident with Belladonna.

{3}- I had to look up Sinister's powers, I honestly didn't know what they were! 

**Tammy-** Maybe the mental blocks just damped her powers or maybe she's powerful enough to override the mental blocks all together! Only Jessica seems to know! :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** You are right, Storm shouldn't be left alone. You think she realizes that Logan likes her so much? All these secret crushes the X-men have on each other! You'd think they were in high school! As for kicking the FOH in the head, please continue, don't let me interrupt :-P

**Ishandahalf**As the child of two incredibly powerful mutants, it seems little Jessica LeBeau has more potential than anyone knows. More will be reveled over time…As for the entire FOH incident at the school, David's safe too…for now anyway, after all he's only in kindergarten. Lucky for him he only needed glasses. Yup, it is prejudice jerks like the FOH that make life even worse for mutants than those superpowered enemies. At least the X-men can fight them head on, the FOH are more sneaky. Personally, I find Belladonna worse than Joseph since at least Joseph wasn't evil. Belladonna is just evil incarnate no matter what! And yes, the FOH is a close second! :-)

**T.-** Yup, Jessica passed her physical, but she's lucky that she's alive this time! :-)

**Kitsu**** Lebeau-** Nah, you weren't rude at all, that just means you were paying attention. Keeping me on my toes is a good thing :-) Um, have fun at your special event!


	25. Actions Speak Louder than Words

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

[[Text in these brackets denotes French.]]

Through the Years

**Part VI**

Chapter Twenty-Five: Actions Speak Louder than Words

Midway through the summer and already most people were sick of the extraordinarily hot weather. Remy LeBeau was not one of those people. Having grown up on the bayous of Louisiana, he relished in the sultry days and nights that summers up North could bring. It was comforting in a way, if only it could last nearly all year instead of just a few months a year. He knew that his wife felt the same way since she was a fellow child of the South. He smiled at her as she entered the kitchen were he was cooking up a gourmet dinner.

"Hot today, Shugha," she breathed as she took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Not as hot as you, Chere," he said, flirting in her general direction.

"Ya Swamp Rat," she exclaimed as she got up from her chair and wrapped her arms around him. "Are ya always such a charmah?"

"Wit' you Chere, always," with that he pulled her in tight for a passionate kiss. It might have been a coincidence, but at the same moment, the pot on the stove began to boil.

As Remy held her, Rogue thought about how lucky she was. She had a loving husband, a lovely house, and a beautiful daughter. It was never far from her mind that she nearly lost that little girl a few months back but she didn't want to seclude her daughter from the world either. She and Remy were as careful with Jessica as two mutant parents with a developing mutant child could be. As a result of their encounter with Mr. Sinister Scott suggested that maybe it would be a good idea to train Jessica and Nathaniel in some sort of self-defense training. In a rare display, Mr. and Mrs. LeBeau actually agreed with him. Once Jessica healed from her wounds she and Nathaniel started mild self-defense work with Wolverine a couple of days a week in the afternoon. Since they were only little he didn't push them hard and made it more of a game than anything else. Since Jean usually watched David as well he was invited to join them, but the little boy found solace with a certain blue-furred companion more often than not while his friends learned to defend themselves. Sometimes he'd join his friends in their workouts with Logan, but if Hank McCoy was free he'd spend the afternoon with him. The world of technology fascinated the little boy and Hank was more than happy to pass on his knowledge of computers and their workings with the eager young pupil. Now that she was a teenager, David's sister Carlie didn't come to the Mansion after school anymore opting instead for extracurricular activities or social events. However, if Jean, Remy, or one of the other adults was unable to watch the kids, Carlie usually stepped up to the plate and baby-sat. In fact she sometimes watched the three youngsters while the adults had a night out. Since she was turning fourteen in September, the X-men wondered if the young lady would develop mutant powers in the near future. She was around the right age after all.

"Ah love ya Mr. LeBeau," Rogue said as she pulled away from the kiss.

"An' I love you Mrs. LeBeau," he replied. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a small figure entering the room. He ran over to her and scooped her on top of his shoulders.

"POPPA," the little girl squealed with delight. "Let me go Poppa," she demanded as she giggled and her eyes sparkled.

"Now you know dat dere is no way dis Cajun is ever lettin' his lil' Wildcard go," he said. And he meant that with all his heart. After nearly losing her once he vowed to never let her go again, not if he still had breath in his body.

"Now Remy don't torture the child, ya Swamp Rat," Rogue said as she made her way over to the laughing pair.

"Yeah Poppa, don't torture the child, you Swamp Rat," repeated Rogue's miniature as she sat contently on her father's shoulders.

Both parents laughed at her best imitation of Rogue.

"Well if I'm a Swamp Rat den you are a Swamp Mouse petite."

Remy put the little girl down and Rogue handed her plates so she could help set the table. Remy smiled as he thought that these were the moments worth living for.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"But I don't want it," she pouted as she looked at the plate.

"But you usually like my gumbo petite," Remy pouted back.

Rogue had to smile; he looked just as pathetic as their daughter who was trying to get out of dinner and onto dessert. Like father like daughter.

"Ok, how about just one more bite an' den you're done. Sounds fair, _non_?

"_Non_."

"Jessica ya'll are gonna finish yoah dinner or there will be no dessert. Understand?"

"Yes Momma," with that she took to finishing the few mouthfuls that were left on her plate.

"Way to lay down t'law Chere," Remy whispered as he leaned over towards Rogue.

Rogue shook her head and smiled. Time and time again she always found herself being the enforcer of rules. Remy couldn't deny his little princess of anything, and Jessica knew how to work her way with him. The thought that always made Rogue laugh was that the famous charmer was always out charmed by his own daughter!

The rest of dinner continued fairly uneventfully. Ice cream was scooped out for dessert and it wasn't until they had just about finished that they found their meal interrupted.

BEE BEEP! BEE BEEP!

"What in tarnation? Who could that be?" Rogue got up and went to a comlink that was on the counter in the kitchen. When Xavier had the house built for Scott and Jean he made sure to include an emergency comlink system from the Mansion to the little house down the street. There was one in the kitchen, living room, and both bedrooms. When they first moved in, Remy joked that one of the few places that didn't have one was the bathroom because there are just some places where privacy is sacred. No one ever used the comlink system unless the house phone line was busy or if it was during one of the tests to make sure the system worked and that was done a few times every year. However, Rogue knew it wasn't an extreme emergency or else they'd be hearing some sort of automated warning like "All X-men report to the War Room immediately." In that case they'd have to haul tail over to the Mansion.

Rogue pushed a button on the side of the speaker, "Hello?"

An image of Professor Xavier appeared on the small screen. "Hello Rogue."

"Oh hi Professor, what can Ah do foah ya?"

"Sorry if I'm interrupting anything but this is an urgent matter."

"Well what is it Shugah, spit it out."

He proceeded to explain that Bishop, newly returned from a lengthy mission received some information that required a team of X-men to head to New Mexico for some information and probably some preventative action; a mutant uprising of some sort. He told her that they needed her absorption powers in case some of these rebellious mutants were too much to handle at full strength. As reserve members of the X-men, Gambit and Rogue were always ready to help out but rarely were they ever called. In fact, neither had been called to help out since before they got their powers back.

"Ah understand what ya're sayin', but Ah don't know if Ah can do it. Ah mean, Ah haven't used mah absorption powers in nearly a decade! Ah mean, Beast says their fully functional and Ah've used mah strength and flight since then. Ah…Ah just don't know if Ah can do it."

"Well Rogue," said the image of the Professor on the screen. "That's up to you. It's your call."

Rogue looked over at her husband and daughter who were oblivious to her conversation and in the middle of some sort of staring contest which involved staring at the other person's ice cream and trying to get a spoonful of it before the other could pull the bowl away. She had to protect them, even if there was no immediate threat.

"Ok Professor Ah'll do it. When do ya need me?"

"Right away. You, Bishop, and Sage head out immediately."

"Right, Ah'm on mah way," she said as she shut off the comlink. She then went up the stairs and took her old uniform out of the closet. It was her favorite one, green and yellow jumpsuit which she capped off with a brown aviator jacket. She through the uniform on in record time and flew, literally, back down to the kitchen.

Not as oblivious to the conversation as Rogue thought, Remy heard every word and he didn't like it. But he knew she had to do it, just like he would if he was the one called.

The uniformed clad Rogue leaned over and gave Jessica a hug. "Momma's gotta go away foah a little bit. Be a good girl foah Poppa."

"Don't you want to finish dessert," Jessica asked looking up at Rogue.

"Oh baby girl, Ah don't have any time. Put it in the freezer, an' you an' Poppa can finish it foah me tomorrow night."

Jessica got up from her chair and hugged her mother's knees. "I love you Momma. I'll be good." She then parted from her mother and brought the designated treat to the freezer, using a chair to reach it.

While the little girl was out of earshot Remy told Rogue, "I know you gotta do dis Rogue, but be careful please."

"Ya know Ah will Swamp Rat, especially when Ah've got this to return home to." She pulled him in for a fiery kiss before flying out the door.

"What a _femme_," he muttered to himself before turning back towards the kitchen and getting ready to talk his daughter into helping him with the dishes.

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Later that night, a crowd of about ten teenaged mutants in PJs sat in a common room in the dorm of the Xavier Institute of Education. Jubilee and Bobby made a point of having at least one social night a month to keep the spirits of the students up, especially since there were only a few students here for summer school; not because they were doing poorly but because they had no where else to go. Tonight was their Board Game Night and despite initial protests of anticipated lameness and boredom, everyone seemed to be having a great time. So good in fact that they ran out of popcorn and Jubilee had to run to the dorm kitchen to make more.

"Mr. Drake you owe me some mad money yo! I own Park Place and you my friend are on it!"

"Jeez Trent, take it easy on me! I was an accountant; I'm use to dealing with real money, not this fake stuff. I mean, what country honestly accepts currency with the Monopoly man on it!"

"Um, the nation of Trent does, so fork it over," said the young man whose powers were to turn odds to his favor. "I think I'll call my country 'Trenton' yeah, I like the sound of that!"

"Um, that's the capital of New Jersey, you know our neighbor to the south," retorted Savannah, a girl with gils who could survive in the water as easily as she could on land. "Now I know why you're in summer school."

"Oh yeah well, they stole it from me! Some freaky mind readers down there in the Garden State. You know the whole idea of the Parkway, gas stations where it is illegal to pump your own gas, and diners open 24 hours a day as far as the eye can see. They stole it all from me," claimed the young man as he tried to regain some integrity. Savannah just rolled her eyes.

"I think your cheating, you're not using your powers, are you," Bobby asked as he handed over the appropriate amount.

"I swear to you I am not, the Trent man doesn't lie or cheat. Especially not to the man who has to grade my Calc test."

"Hmmm," Bobby grinned. "Good point."

"So Mr. Drake, I heard a rumor that you were dating Ms. Lee," said Savannah. "Is that true or do I just have a bad source?"

"Me date Ms. Lee? C'mon now Savannah, I've known her since she was just a kid. There can't be anything between us!"

"Oh," sighed Savannah. "That's too bad because you would make a totally cute couple!"

Bobby laughed, "You can tell your source that it has strange ideas, I can't see Ms. Lee and me ever together! There's no way anything could ever happen between us, it's too weird!"

Bobby didn't realize that Jubilee was in the doorway with a fresh batch of popcorn and heard every word of it. She felt tears stinging in her eyes since she had such strong feelings for him and he could never feel anything for her. After all this time and all these years she'd always be just a kid to him! She'd be in her eighties and he'd still see her as juvenile!

She thrust the bowl of popcorn into his lap and said, "I'm tired Mr. Drake, I'm going to bed. I think you can handle everything here by yourself. It's almost curfew anyway." Then she stormed out of the room.

A totally confused Bobby was left with a bowl of popcorn in his lap. "What was that all about, she was fine before she went to the kitchen. Must have been something she ate."

"Um duh Dude," Trent said as he reached over to take some popcorn from Bobby. He knocked on his head lightly like a door. "Are you totally oblivious, the chick totally digs you."

"WHAT?! NO WAY! She sees me as nothing more than an older brother or something. You guys are nuts."

"No Mr. Drake," whispered Leslie, an empath. "Her feelings are hurt, you are the one who is nuts."

Knowing Leslie rarely ever spoke up unless it was something important, Bobby felt like he had to take her word for it. The fact that she was an empath didn't hurt either.

"You think I should go talk to her?"

"UM YEAH!" was the unison reply of nearly every student still left in the room.

"Ok, alright. PEER PRESSURE! Jeez! Get to bed, all of you."

"What, we don't get to stay up and watch," Trent mock pouted.

"You can watch or you can pass your Calc test, your call."

"Ok alright going, sheesh! I'm not playing Monopoly with you anymore, it makes you crabby," said the young mutant as he headed to his room.

Once all the students were safely in their rooms and the common room was cleaned up, Bobby made his way to Jubilee's room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jubilee sobbed into her pillow. How could she ever be so foolish to think that there was ever the remote possibility that Bobby could ever have feelings for her? Then she heard a knock at her door.

"Jubes, are you in there?"

"Where else would I be? I said I was going to bed."

"Please Jubilee, I think we need to talk."

She got up, wiped the tears from her face, and went to the door. "What is it Bobby," she asked with the best smile she could muster up.

"Were you crying kiddo? What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Oh goodness, nothing! Just a little over tired and overstressed, and it all kind of got to me. That's all. No need to worry about little old me!"

"Oh," said Bobby rather surprised. With the way the kids were talking he half expected her to be in an inconsolable state with her feelings hurt. They must have been wrong…yeah that's it, they didn't have fully developed powers and they just were wishful thinking that two of their favorite instructors could get together. That had to be it. "You sure Jubes, that's it?"

She forced a convincing laugh, "Oh of course Bobby! I'm sorry if I seemed off before, just stressed from the work of summer school. Now if you don't mind, I really need to get some sleep."

"Well, all right if that's how you feel." He leaned over and gave her a hug. "Glad you're OK. Goodnight Buddy!"

She closed the door and went back to the solace of her tear-drenched pillow.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That same night at 1407 Graymalkin Lane one of its residence was raiding the fridge. Hard workouts always left him hungry. Standing at the counter with a hearty sandwich Logan felt this evening couldn't be any better. Then she entered the room. Her white hair blew around her due to the open kitchen window. She looked radiant by moonlight. Actually she looked radiant by any light. Even in the standard issue X-men sweats she was wearing, she still looked beautiful.

"Lookin' for a late night sandwich, eh," he asked.

She smiled, "Actually I was more in the mood for some popcorn. I was going to watch a movie if you would like to join me." She took a bag of popcorn and put it in the microwave.

Despite his tough exterior his heart actually felt like it skipped a beat. "Well Darlin' that all depends. Is it a chick flick or somethin' good?"

"Perhaps you would like to pick out the film Logan," she said still smiling. If he didn't know any better he'd almost think she was flirting with him.

"Perhaps we can find something we both enjoy."

"Perhaps.."

They stood there for a few minutes just gazing at each other. Then the microwave beeped signaling that the popcorn was finished. Ororo took the bag out and poured the contents into a bowl. "Well my friend, help yourself. There is more than enough here for you."

Was she suggesting what, he thought? "Excuse me?"

"Popcorn Logan, I made enough for both of us."

"Oh," he coughed and cleared his throat. "Of course that's what you meant. Well Darlin', I would love to join you."

"Then shall we…," she said taking up the bowl of popcorn.

"Of course," he offered his arm to the weather goddess which she graciously took and then laughed, her eyes sparkling the entire time. Then they made their way to the Rec room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Author's Note-** I'm a Jersey girl and I couldn't resist some home state references when I realized my faux pas in naming a character Trent. One of my favorite things about the X-men is that they are so close to home. Sometimes Marvel takes stabs at my state too:-P

Anyway, anyone happen to catch the hinting at the future of Gambit and Rogue's relationship in the "The End" series? I for one enjoyed it, at least if it is what I think it is :-)

**Enigmagirl2727- **Thanks for the compliments, that's really sweet of you! I also love seeing my favorite characters get the happy endings they deserve, and sometimes seeing my not-so-favorites get their just desserts :-P

**Sevgrlx**You are right, I should have had Gambit and Rogue deal with their feelings after Jessica's recovery in the last chapter, but I didn't know exactly how to put it in without disrupting the flow of things, so I held it off until this chapter. That and I didn't want to give everyone too much to read in one day, I tend to write a lot in one chapter. But I hope you are enjoying the story! :-)

**Star-of-Chaos- **Well, I did want to reveal Jessica's powers to their fullest extent later but here's a scorecard of what we have witnessed so far… From Rogue she seems to have a weaker form of the absorption power and from Gambit she seems to have similar or maybe weaker ability to charge things as well as an apparently stronger form of his telepathic abilities. But a little girl like that can't have all those powers (or can she)? Don't worry, they'll find out soon enough what the real deal is. (I don't intend to make her the all powerful mutant savoir of mankind (hint, I have someone else in mind for that job but you didn't hear it from me) or anything like that but it's just that her parents have such great powers you can't help but play with them.) After all, with parents like Gambit and Rogue you can't help but get a powerful kid, providing it's a mutant and not a Graydon Creed scenario. Hope that helped!:-)

**Tammy-** Yeah it would have been terrible if they lost her, especially since they lost the first baby way back early in the story. :-)

**Kitsu**** Lebeau-** Yes I always seem to have something up my sleeve, right now it's my arm :-P Seriously though, your wish is my command and here's an update for you! And don't worry, randomness is fun! :-P

**Ishandahalf** Don't worry, I grumble about my crappy eyesight too, in fact everyone I know seems to have crappy eyesight (ponders that for a while). But yeah as I've said before who wouldn't want to be in Remy…I mean… Mr. LeBeau's class! :-)


	26. Hidden Feelings Come to the Surface

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Text in these brackets denotes French.

Through the Years

Chapter Twenty-Six: Hidden Feelings Come to the Surface

While Rogue was away on her mission, Remy LeBeau found himself finding many ways to fill the voids in his days. This was the first time since they had been married the either of them had been away from the other for more than an overnight trip and frankly he missed her. One day while Jessica was having a self-defense training session with Wolverine and Nathaniel, Remy found himself sitting at the table in the Mansion kitchen playing a game of Solitaire. He was almost tempted to go to find the kids and join them in their work out but fears of Wolverine using him as the example kept him from doing so. No need to make his little girl watch him kick her godfather's butt, he thought to himself, or even worse, if things worked out the other way around. He didn't want to think about that. He engrossed himself in his card game instead. He was so into it that he didn't notice he had company until the person sitting next to him spoke.

"Just tell me how many times you have played that game already, my friend," said the voice.

Without looking at the speaker Remy put the last card in place, "Well, dat makes lucky seven, Stormy and I've won every single time." He then skillfully slid the cards back into one pile, and placed them neatly in a pocket of his long leather duster jacket. Then he turned to face his smirking friend.

"Why am I not surprised," she smiled. After a moment she spoke again in a more solemn tone. "Do you think we could take a walk?"

Noting that his friend was clearly troubled he smiled before saying with a wink, "Ok, but don't tell my wife, she might get jealous, you know me walkin' wit' a lovely _femme_ like yourself."

Ororo laughed, "Rogue has nothing to be jealous about. I am fortunate to have a friend like you to walk with and make me laugh."

They got up from their seats and made their way to the garden where they walked for a few minutes before Remy spoke.

"Is somet'in' trouble you 'Ro?"

They took a seat on a bench in the garden and she began to pour her heart out. "It is Logan, I do not know what to do about him. It seems that for the past few years he has been pursuing me, there have been hints and flirtations along the way, sweet moments spent together enjoying each other's company like last week when we watched a movie together, but then again it could be just his way of being friends with me. Or it could be wishful thinking on my part."

"What are you tryin' t'say 'Ro?"

"I am saying…I am saying…I am in love with him, Remy. I do not know what to do! I am not very experienced in the world of romantic relationships. There was my relationship with Forge many years ago but it hurt so badly when it ended. I just do not want to hurt like that, or hurt Logan like that, if things did not work out. I value his friendship more than anything and I do no want to lose that."

"Perhaps you should be tellin' Logan dat instead of me. He's a big boy, he can decide for himself if bein' wit' you is what he wants." He smiled at his friend as he said, "But take it from me Stormy, I see t'way he looks at you, t'way he treats you. I'd wager that he feels t'same way, and Gambit rarely loses a bet, especially when he feels t'odds are good like dis. And as for gettin' hurt, you said it yourself dat t'relationship wit' Forge was many years ago, it's time t'bury dat hurt and replace dose sad feelings in your heart wit' t'love you feel for a certain Canadian friend of ours."

"You really think so?"

"Dis Cajun doesn't lie."

"Thank you my friend," she said as she gave him a hug. "You have helped to lay my fears to rest."

"Any time Stormy."

"Remy, there is just one more thing."

"What's dat?"

"STOP CALLING ME BY THAT INFURRIATING NICKNAME," she bellowed with a crack of lightning in the sky for emphasis. Remy just continued to smile his mischievous grin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that evening, Bobby Drake headed to the dorm building's kitchen. Somehow a night of watching a cheesy monster marathon on TV didn't seem complete without a full range of snacks at his immediate disposal. Tonight he and Jubilee had the evening to themselves. All of the students went to a carnival in town with the Professor and Jean, after all the students couldn't get in much trouble with two telepaths watching their every move, so he intended to make the most of the peacefully quiet building with a night in. He even took the liberty of going to Jubilee's room to see if she wanted to join him, but she was no where to be found. It didn't take long to find her. She was sitting in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee with an oddly familiar person. Oh wait, that's right, he had seen this man with Jubilee before, she went out with him a few times last month but he never actually met the guy. As Jubilee and her date stood up from the table she caught Bobby's attention.

"Oh hello Robert, we were just finishing a cup of coffee before we head out. By the way, this is Damien."

"I'm sure it is," replied Bobby. He thought it was weird she was calling him by his given name, after all she only did that in jest or if she was annoyed with him, and frankly she seemed neither. Tall, dark, and handsome, Damien seemed like a nice guy, but maybe a little old for Jubliee. Then he remembered when Jubliee first mentioned Damien he realized she had said they went to college together. So they were about the same age, but why did he seem so old for her? Or maybe it was because Jubliee was older than he liked to think.

"Nice to meet you," said Damien reaching over to shake Bobby's hand. "Jubilation has told me a lot about you."

"I'm sure she has," replied Bobby. Jubilation, he thought, what's that all about, I haven't heard her called by her given name since the Professor reprimanded her one April Fool's Day when she put plastic wrap over the toilets in the Mansion, causing needless to say, quite a mess for whoever happened to groggily make their way to the toilet. That prank even topped some of his great ones. But that was years ago, when she was just a kid…

"Well, as cozy as this is, we really have to be going. Damien has promised to take me to the MET and I for one can't wait. I've always wanted to see that museum outside of a school trip with the students. We'll probably be late so don't wait up. Good night," she sang out cheerfully as she brushed her way out the door.

"Again nice meeting you Robert," Damien stated as Jubilee whisked him out the door.

"Bye," muttered a dumbfounded Bobby. Boy, he thought to himself, that was fast. Something about it doesn't seem right though. He felt jealous. No, it couldn't be jealousy! Perhaps it was the result of working side-by-side with her for the last few years as co-dorm directors at the Xavier Institute of Education, getting to know her and gaining a wonderful, wacky friend. Or perhaps it was the result of the students suggesting something last week about how he and Jubilee would make a cute couple. But that night Bobby Drake realized something that he didn't even admit to himself until that very moment. He did have feelings for her. And he had to tell her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Not far away in the Mansion, while Jubilee went on her date with Damien and Bobby half-concentrated on B movies while trying to think of what to say to Jubilee, another member of the X-men team was determined to solve matters of the heart. Logan lay awake in his bed, relaxing after a busy day. He started off the day with his daily morning workout, followed with some modifications to his motorcycle, and then in the afternoon he trained Nathaniel and Jessica in the art of self-defense, followed with an aggressive workout with Cyclops in the Danger Room. After dinner and taking a shower he felt he earned the right to lounge around in his room. Just as he was starting to drift off into a wonderful daydream about Ororo he heard a knock at his door. He grumbled something about not having a minute to think as he got up to answer it. Then he wondered if he was dreaming when he saw who was standing in his doorway.

"Hello Logan."

"Hey 'Ro, what can I do fer ya?"

"May I come in Logan, I…I need to talk to you."

"Of course." He led her into the room where they both took a seat on the bed. "What's on yer mind Darlin'?"

"Funny you should say that"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I am here because of something on my mind."

"Maybe you better spell it out fer me because I'm not followin'."

"Well, I…" She couldn't believe it! She could feel herself turning redder with every passing second. After her conversation with Remy, Ororo practiced what she wanted to say to Logan for nearly the entire day. She rehearsed it in her head at dinner; she practiced the lines out loud in her room. She had it down cold. Now when the moment of truth came and she was looking into his deep black eyes, she couldn't recall a word of it!

"Ororo? What's wrong…"

"Oh forget it," she exclaimed in frustration and she threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately on the lips.

Not that he was complaining, but he really wanted to know what that was all about. Once they separated he said, "Not that I didn't enjoy that display of affection, but what's going on, eh?"

"Well, I came up here to share my feelings about you…about us…but I could not remember what I rehearsed…so I skipped to the part I remembered."

"Well, I liked that part."

"So did I." They gazed at each other for a few moments before either of them spoke again.

"So you really rehearsed everything, even the kiss," he teased.

"Logan, do not be ridiculous!"

He smirked, her blue eyes sparkled when she was full of fire and the lightest hint of red that showed on her beautiful brown skin when she blushed made her absolutely gorgeous. "Well Darlin'," he growled seductively, "I'd be more than willin' to rehearse that part with you now."

Expecting a scolding from the white-haired weather witch, he instead received another passionate kiss. Once their lips parted, they spent the rest of the evening talking about their feelings for each other, the fears they had, what they expected out of a relationship with each other. They had known each other for many years now so there wasn't much new information to learn. Even the feelings they had for each other were subconsciously evident to the other. For the first time they admitted to each other how much they were in love and how much they wanted to be together. In fact, they talked so late into the night that they feel asleep side by side on Logan's bed.

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Jubilee quietly walked down the hall of the dorm to her room. She was out much later than she has anticipated with Damien but she had a great time. When he first suggested going to a museum, she nearly gagged, most of her dates were less serious than that. But she was slightly intrigued by the offer and when Bobby had entered the kitchen she had to make sure it was known that yes, she too could have fun at a serious, adult place. And Damien was a great guy; he had wonderful deep brown eyes that stared back at her when he explained some of the exhibits they saw. And his soft, brown hair was cut in a short hair style, very neat very professional. And his mocha skin was so soft to the touch when he held her hand… She sighed as she opened the door to her room and nearly gasped when she found a man in her bed. Upon a second glace she realized it was just Bobby, hair disheveled, asleep while a horrible B movie played on her TV.

As she stood over the sleeping Iceman, she loudly cleared her throat and then said, "I sincerely hope that you didn't get crumbs on my bed Robert Drake!"

Bobby woke with a start. He had intended on waiting up for her in here but as the hours crept by he couldn't keep his eyes open. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at her. "Ahhh, my dear Jubilation, you have arrived at last!"

She heaved a pillow at him, "Cut the sarcasm Drake and get out of my bed."

He reached out and pulled her down onto the bed. "No way, it's much cozier than mine, but we can share."

She laughed as she sat next to him. "Very cute Bobby, yet lame, I hope you don't use that line on people in real life. Most people wouldn't be as forgiving as me."

"Well, look, I get to be _Bobby_ again, and not _Robert_, thank you _Jubilee_," he said in jest, stressing the names. He then threw a pillow at her.

She laughed, "Ok ok, sorry about that earlier with Damien but I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt and called you by a more adult name."

"Oh so it was for my benefit then?"

"Well of course!"

"Ok, then what was with the Jubilation nonsense?"

"Damien only knows me by my given name since that's what was on the class rosters. In fact most of the people I know from college know me as Jubilation. Only close friends like you get to call me Jubilee."

"Oh well thank you then, I feel honored."

"Well you should! By the way, what the heck are you doing in my room?"

"Oh…um…well, like I said your bed is cozier than mine. Besides, I wanted to know how your date went." He then raised his voice a few octaves doing his best impression of a woman. "So spill it girlfriend, what's the dish?"

She giggled, "It was nice, after the MET we went to a coffee house and listened to some poets do their thing."

"Really, wow, I didn't know you were into that sort of thing"

Her mood turned somber. "There's a lot about me that you don't know."

"I suppose there is…" They sat there gazing at each other for a moment before they both went to speak.

"Bobby" "Jubilee"

They laughed. "Ok you first," said Bobby.

"No I just wanted to say that I need to get ready for bed. Damien's coming over early tomorrow. After church service at Kurt's, we're going sailing."

"Oh," he said. "Well, then I'll leave you to your beauty rest, not that you need it my dear." He bowed on his way out.

"Wait, Bobby, what did you want to say?"

"Me? Oh it was nothing, don't worry about it."

"Oh 'k. Nite!"

He closed the door to her room muttered to himself, "I was just going to tell you how much you mean to me."

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Ororo woke up next to Logan the next morning realizing that they must of fallen asleep talking. She kissed him lightly on the forehead before heading back to her own room to get ready for the day.

Logan opened his eyes at this gesture. "Leavin' me so soon, eh?"

She smiled as she stood in the doorway, "Just heading to my room to get ready for the day. Will you be joining me for breakfast?"

"Darlin' I'll be joining you for the rest of your life if you'll let me."

She turned back to the man who held her heart. "What are you suggesting Logan?"

"Well I was thinkin' about everythin' we talked about last night, I mean it isn't like we don't know each other. We know how we feel about each other; we've felt it for years. Why bother wastin' time on all the stuff that doesn't matter and get down to what's important. After all, with life as X-men bein' so unpredictable, it makes a person appreciate what he's got. And I don't wanna live another moment without you bein' in my life they way we were last night. "

Ororo made her way back into the room and sat next to Logan on the bed. "Logan, are you saying what I think you are saying?"

He got down on one knee and kneeled beside her. "I know this isn't exactly the most romantic setting, I know, I should have waited to plan somethin' more elaborate, but now that it's all out in the open now seems like the perfect time." He took one of her smooth hands into his rough ones, "I don't have a ring and maybe I don't have much to offer you at all but…"

He didn't even get to finish. She pulled him up into a kiss that resulted in them rising in a gust of wind above the room, their heads nearly touching the ceiling. Once they landed and their lips had parted Logan spoke again, "You know Darlin' you didn't even let me finish."

"I am sorry Logan, but if I was not able to finish my statements that started this relationship, well it only seemed fair that you did not get to finish the words that would take it to the next level." She smiled at him as she rubbed a hand over his stubble covered cheek. "I am sorry that you did not get to finish, I felt so caught up in emotions that I had to act on them. But you may finish if you want."

"Nah, you prevented me from saying some cliché line. It is better this way, we both know the question and we both know the answer." He smirked at her as she made her way out of the room. "It was yes, wasn't it?"

She turned, again standing in the doorway, "Do I need to remind you?"

"Well," he joked, "I am getting older, memory's goin' a bit, perhaps you better remind me, eh?"

She glided over to him and pulled him in for another powerful kiss. At this rate they'd never get on with the rest of the day, much less the rest of their lives. But to Ororo and Logan, the only things that mattered were the feelings in that room at that exact moment.

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Since he acquired the rights to the little chapel in the woods behind the Mansion, Kurt Wagner spent most of his time there. Whether it was leading a church service, praying, doing paperwork, or just living his life (after all he did live in a room on the side of his office), the demonic looking priest could be found there more often than not. And when he wasn't there, chances are he was visiting his sister Rogue at her place down the road. He finally was able to live his life the way he always wanted, in peace and teaching the word of God. For Kurt this was heaven on Earth. The chapel itself was a place of sanctuary for anyone who wanted it, whether they were mutant or human, Christian or not. Kurt didn't care who attended his services, to him it just mattered that whoever stumbled through the doors of his sanctuary found the peace they were searching for. That's why it achieved the name, "Saint Elizabeth's, The Little Chapel of Peace." Like the priest on the television show MASH, Kurt was the preacher for nearly all the X-men no matter their exact denomination. He was the residential man of the cloth in the area without having to go all the way to Salem Center. He also knew that some of his friends attended some services just to support him. This particular Sunday as he stood in front of the congregation, he noticed that the crowd was slightly smaller than usual, after all there were some X-men out on missions, and others still who were away for the summer. But that didn't matter to them, he was just glad to have people to share his faith and love with. He smiled at his brother-in-law and niece seated next to the Summers and Williams families. He mentally made a note to pray for Rogue and her group away on a mission. A few rows back he noticed Jubilee with a man he never met before. He also noted that he should introduce himself after Mass. Finally, he noticed an elated looking Logan and equally happy looking Ororo sitting next to a sulking Bobby Drake. He wondered what was wrong with the usually chipper young man but couldn't concentrate on it for long because it was time to start the service.

As hard as he tried to concentrate on what Kurt was saying, Bobby couldn't retain a word his friend said for the life of him. He was too busy staring at the back of Jubilee and Damien's heads. That was HIS Jubilee. What did she see in that guy, besides the fact that he's smart, good looking, and judging from his clothing probably had some money tucked away? He continued to scowl throughout the service.

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**Author's Note-** Ok, yes this should be two chapters, but I didn't want to leave you hanging as to what happened. Man, I compared some of my later chapters to some of the earlier ones, which were one chapter that I split into two or more when posting. I was afraid of putting too much in one chapter in the beginning of the story. Now it seems like I can't get in enough info. Oh well, onto you guys :-)

By the way, I couldn't believe how many people were interested on what was happening on Rogue's mission. You'll have to catch that in the next chapter! :-)

**Kitsu**** Lebeau- **Well, you did see in this chapter how he deals without his Rogue. Poor guy needs to keep his mind off of her by going to the Mansion. But he'll be fine, I promise. Nah, you didn't make up Love is Blind, it's a real saying. As for wanting a pickle when you read this, perhaps it has to do with the weird food during the pregnancy chapters? :-)

**Ishandahalf****-** Kill Rogue off!!!!! Heavens! I don't see that happening, don't worry! I'd miss writing her too much. But what's a good story without a little suspense, eh? As for Bobby and Jubilee, you are right, the man is clueless. And once he figures out what he missed out on, she's moved on! ARG! Don't worry about the story lines, I've been keeping a list to keep them sorted. I might leave one alone for a few chapters, but I won't forget, or at least I'll try not to! :-)

**Tammy- **I'll give you a hint, I won't keep Rogue away for too long, after all I miss it when I can't write interactions with her and her family. As for Bobby and Jubilee, well, that might prove to be a little more complex. :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** Yeah, it's no fun having character's that can do everything, I mean there have got to be some limitations, or at least some consequences with those characters that seem like they can do everything. Take the Professor for instance, he is considered the most powerful mutant on the planet, but he can't walk and hello, he created ONSLAUGHT! We will just wait and see the full extent and limitations that come with Jessica's powers. As for Rogue, again, we'll just have to wait and see :-)

**Enigmagirl2727-** I'm so glad you loved the last chapter. As you just read, this chapter concentrated more on the relationships of other X-men, but fear not, I address Jessica's powers once and for all in the next chapter. :-)

**T.-**Rogue, get into trouble? NEVER! :-P We'll just have to wait and see what happens to the fiery Southern belle. :-)


	27. Flatscans Living in a Mutant World

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family, Damien, and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Text in these brackets denotes French.

Through the Years

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Flatscans Living in a Mutant World

After the Mass was celebrated, Kurt stood in front of the chapel as always and greeted his exiting parishioners. He lifted his little niece onto his shoulder while chatting with Remy for a few minutes. They made plans to have dinner together later that night and then Kurt handed his niece back to her father. Next he greeting Bobby Drake who seemed very distracted. He asked the young man if something was wrong, to which he curtly answered that there was no problem and everything was fine. A few other people passed by and he met Jubilee's date Damien, who seemed like a nice fellow. Kurt liked the fact that the young man was not fazed at all by his demonic appearance; so much in fact that the priest felt the need to question him about it. It turns out that Damien's father is a mutant with a non-super powered physical mutation and as a result physically different looking mutants didn't seem any more out of place to him than a normal person. Despite his father's mutation, Damien was a flatscan human, although his two brothers were mutants. One just had a physical mutation and the other was a telepath. After the young couple left Kurt silently said a prayer thanking God that there were decent people out there who could co-exist with mutants.

After it seemed like everyone left Kurt made his way back into the chapel. He was surprised to see Logan and Ororo waiting there for him. They said that they needed to talk to him, and he led them to his office.

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Monica Williams led her family to the backyard of the chapel after Mass. Back there was a tiny and peaceful cemetery. She made a point of visiting there every now and then with the children. She never wanted them to forget their father. She knew that Carlie still remembered him, but she worried because David never really knew the man. She smiled because David looked so much like younger pictures of Jeffrey, even right down to the glasses. Monica felt lucky to have the X-men as neighbors and friends. Despite the fact that she was a flatscan human, she felt right at home with them since they all had something in common: Both had suffered heartache and loss at the hands of mutant haters. The X-men suffered because they were mutants and Monica suffered because both her sister-in-law, a mutant, and her husband, a flatscan, were killed by mutant haters. She knew that being a mutant sympathizer in this world was dangerous for her and her children, but she wouldn't have it any other way. To her it was the right thing to do, especially since it honored the legacy her late husband left as a flatscan champion of mutant rights.

Later that afternoon, she and her neighbor Remy LeBeau were going to take the children to see Dr. Henry McCoy. Hank had made some modifications to some of his equipment, so he wanted to see the full range of little Jessica LeBeau's mutation. Carlie wanted to know if the good doctor could tell her if she was a mutant or not. The teenager had a friend who first manifested powers during math class and as a result did not feel safe in their public school anymore. Her friend soon transferred to the Xavier Institute of Education to complete her studies. As a result, Carlie feared developing powers in public like that and wanted to be prepared, just in case. As she watched Carlie help David place some flowers at the base of their father's grave she silently prayed for the strength to deal with whatever came her way later this afternoon.

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After leaving the cemetery, the Williams family made their way to the LeBeau house, except Carlie who went home first to change out of her church clothes. Monica had some coffee with Remy while Jessica and David ran around the yard and played. Sometimes they would climb the chain-linked fence into David's yard to go inside their club house. As long as they were careful, the parents didn't mind them doing that. After all, they could see them from the back porch until they were inside the club house, and at that point they should be fairly safe. They both yelled to the children to be careful not to ruin their church clothes.

"David, I have to sit for a minute, I'm tired," said Jessica after flopping into a small chair in their clubhouse.

"Me too," exclaimed David as he flopped down on a chair next to her.

"So are you coming with me to the doctor's today? Your momma and Carlie are," said Jessica.

"If you want me to, I will," said David.

"Good," exclaimed the six-year old. "Because I'm scared."

"Why are you scared," asked her friend, "It's just Doctor Hank, and he's nice, he's my friend!" The little boy had grown quite attached to the blue furred mutant in recent months.

"No, it's not that Shugah, I know Uncle Hank is nice."

"Then why are you scared Jessie-Rose?"

"I'm scared they'll find out my secret."

"You mean the one that only you and I know about."

"_Oui_, that one."

"Well, don't worry, I'll be there" her friend said triumphantly! He was slightly older than Nathaniel and nearly a year older than Jessica. In the past, he always felt the need to watch out for them. Since Nathaniel was almost bigger than he was, he didn't watch out for him as much anymore, but Jessica was his best friend, he felt obligated in his seven-year old mind to take care of her.

"Hey David Daniel Williams" called Jessica after few minutes of sitting.

"Yes Jessica Rose LeBeau," he answered back.

"Wanna use our secret?"

"Ok," he said. With that they both stood up face to face, palms touching each other. David felt their secret flow into him. Then his and Jessica's hands parted. At the same moment they both flew up to the club house ceiling. They giggled as they chased each other in the air until they were called by Carlie that it was time to go see Hank.

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_I'm stronger than they'll ever be, we can and will beat them!... Maybe we shouldn't use our powers against the humans, but they are the ones who hate us…These mutants deserve to die…The mutants who cause trouble aren't these ones, but maybe we should stop them just in case…_

Rogue sat on a bench in the park holding her head, so many thoughts, so many voices speaking in her head. She had been so use to her own voice being the only one in her mind that she developed a splitting headache after the skirmish she was just in. She, Sage, and Bishop went to New Mexico to stop some rebellious mutants from setting fire to a small town and ridding it of flatscans. They were also there to gather some information as to why this was happening. Unfortunately they got there a little too late, the action had already started, and the flatscans were fighting back. Fortunately they were able to defuse the situation without any casualties, but it had been a tough and long fight. The Professor was right, as usual, when he suspected that Rogue's absorption powers would be needed. The anger generated by both mutants and flatscans caused a volatile situation and Rogue had to stop a number of people, both powered and powerless by temporarily draining the energy out of them. While Sage and Bishop handled the XSE part of the clean up, Rogue tried to sort through all the thoughts and memories going through her head; so much anger, so much hatred. Fortunately before the battle, Beast ran a few tests on her and concluded that the effects of absorption would not be permanent as it had been in the past. She would be able to maintain a person's persona and powers for 60 times as long as she had contact with them, as in the past. However, once that time was up, their persona would no longer be in her head. She might recall some of the things from their memories, as if she heard them, but their voices wouldn't be in her head forever. That in itself was a relief for her.

"Rogue? Are you alright now," asked Bishop. He told her that he and Sage could work out the clean-up stuff while she got her thoughts together.

_Our families, they wanna hurt our families…We must succeed…__GET HER!!...__What have we done?...__My powers, she's stealing them…_

"What? Oh yeah, Shugah, Ah'm ok now. The voices are starting to fade away," said Rogue as she shook her head lightly and got up off the bench she was sitting on. "Ah can't believe in the entire week we were here no one was killed."

"Yes, it is indeed a miracle," said Sage who joined the conversation.

"It will take them a while to rebuild, but I think they can do it," Bishop said.

"Ah certainly hope so, at least we got them talkin' to each other like civilized people," said Rogue

The three X-men stood there for a few minutes silently taking in everything that happened while they were there, viewing the destruction as well as the evidence of rebirth. Bishop broke the silence when he turned to Rogue and spoke.

"Well, there's really not a whole lot left for you to do, Rogue, I mean if you want to go home now feel free. Sage and I just have to go to one of the XSE offices in California and file a report of this incident," Bishop said.

"California, say isn't the XSE office there near Valle Soleada," she asked.

"Yes, it's a few towns over," said Sage, "Why?"

"Ah think Ah'll go with ya'll. There are a few people Ah wanna call on while Ah'm in the area."

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Carlie Williams sat on the edge of the examining table while Dr. McCoy scribbled some notes into his legal pad. She wished he would just tell her already! If she was a mutant, she wanted to know. She had told him prior to the examination that personally it didn't matter to her one way or the other, she just wanted to be prepared in case her powers manifested as school. It happened to Sophie in math class, one minute they were taking Mr. Johnson's final exam and the next minute, BAM! Sophie sprouted wings. Everyone was shocked and poor Sophie was too scared to even come back to school, so she enrolled at the Xavier Institute of Education where she figured she'd be safer, while Carlie would start high school in September at the local public one. Carlie thought about this all summer and after talking to her mother decided it would be best to have Dr. Hank look her over, find out what's going on, and hopefully give her some advice. Carlie wanted Mr. Remy and Ms. Rogue to be with her too during the examination. They were both mutants and like family to her for nearly as long as she could remember. Ms. Rogue was out of town, but Mr. Remy had agreed to be there for her, just like he always was. She recalled a time when she was about nine years old and her Scout troop was having a father-daughter dance, and she was at that age where she didn't want her mother take the father role, in fear of peer opinion and all that. When she asked Mr. Remy to do it, he said that he would be honored, and they had a great time. Unlike most kids her age, she didn't have a father who was alive, but her mother did her best to fulfill the role of both parents. However, sometimes there were times were she needed to talk to a male, like when she needed advice about boys, and Mr. Remy was always more than willing to listen to her.

"Well," said Hank to his patient Carlie who was sitting on the examining table, "According to my scans young lady, you do not have the X-gene. In fact, you are not even a carrier."

"What does that mean Dr. Hank," asked the young teen.

"Well, that means that not only will you not develop any mutant powers, but you will not pass on the gene to your children. I mean there is a chance that you could have mutant children assuming the fact that the father carries the gene," said Beast before realizing that this information was fairly useless to a high-schooler.

"So am I done," she asked hoping off the table.

Hank chuckled, and then smiled at his patient, "Of course Carlie, I'll see you later."

Since she had plans with some friends she hugged her mom and brother, as well as Mr. Remy and Jessica before running off to a friend's house. Dr. Hank McCoy couldn't help but feel a little envious of the teen. She was fully prepared to take on the responsibilities of being a mutant, but when it came down to it, she'd never have to face the horrors that he and so many others have had to face. But he took comfort in knowing that her life would be easier than his own had been.

"Well," Hank said scanning the room, "Where's my next patient?" He felt a pair of little hands climb up his body and wrap around his neck.

"Here I am Uncle Hank," said the voice.

"And so you are Jessica dear. Now, shall we see what secrets you have to share with us?"

At the mention of the word secrets Jessica and David looked at each other with an expression that read "Does he know?"

Hank proceeded running some scans and tests using his superior technology. When he was done he sent the little girl to sit in her father's lap.

"Well, Hank, what's t'verdict," Remy asked.

"Well Remy, let's start from the beginning," Hank said taking a seat in a chair facing the present members of the LeBeau and Williams families. "The first power we saw little Jessica manifest was an absorption power during her encounter with Belladonna. It is apparent that she gets that from her mother. But what we also know is that the effects of Jessica's power is more than likely no where near the strength of Rogue's since she has to concentrate to use it. She could probably do no more to a person than temporarily knock them out, unlike Rogue who could kill a person with her absorption power. During her encounter with Sinister we saw that she also possessed a few powers similar to your own including your ability to kinetically charge an object and a stronger form of your telepathy, though the verdict is still out on the latter. The down side we have seen from her powers is the fact that when the levels fluctuate her body's processes slow down and she losses heat rapidly, dropping her body temperature to a near fatal level. This brings us to a new part of Jessica's mutation that we have not yet been privy to. But something tells me that our young friend knows the answer, isn't that right young lady?"

"What do you mean Uncle Hank," Jessica asked nervously while stealing glances at David.

"Well, let me explain a little and maybe it will jog your memory," Hank then looked back at the adults present. "You see being the child of such a rich and strong mutant heritage puts Jessica in a unique position. She could either hold great power or have no power as seen with Graydon Creed, the son of Mystique and Sabertooth. As we have witness she is the former. She has already demonstrated that she has your array of powers, Remy, in at her disposal. After all she is genetically half yours. We have also seen that she has one of Rogue's powers. But she is genetically half Rogue's."

"So are you sayin' dat Jessica could have t'rest of Rogue's powers," Remy questioned.

"If you mean her abilities that she acquired from Ms. Marvel that permanently became part of her DNA then yes I am. It is possible that Rogue passed some or all of Ms. Marvel's abilities to her daughter.

"I don't know which powers are going to come up," Remy exclaimed. "In t'genetic deck of cards she is certainly a wildcard!" He tickled the little girl making her squirm and giggle.

"If I might ask," interrupted Monica, "What exactly are these Ms. Marvel abilities?"

"A long time ago Rogue permanently absorbed Ms. Marvel's ability to fly, her Seventh Sense, and her super strength. Rogue is virtually indestructible. Although something tells me that Jessica probably does not hold all of these powers.

"What makes you said that," said Monica.

"I've been Jessica's doctor all her life. I've helped fix up scrapes and other 'boo-boos,' and as far as I can tell, she doesn't have the invulnerability that Rogue has, thus she probably doesn't have her super strength. As a result of not being invulnerable like her mother, Jessica has a harder time controlling the levels of mutant powers in her body."

"Thus t'reason she gets so cold when her power levels are high," concluded Remy.

"Precisely," said Hank, who was in his element right now, discussing scientific matters to a captive audience, despite the fact that the youngest two present didn't understand a word he was saying. "But during my examination of Jessica today I noticed that her body temperature was normal. That tells me that she might have a release for her powers, sort of like an outlet or a safety valve if you will."

"What do you mean," asked Monica.

"Well, it's like her body has a failsafe, a safety switch that helps her cope with all the powers she inherited from her parents."

"And what's dat," Remy asked holding his daughter tight.

"I think Jessica knows the answer to that after all, she must have done whatever it was before coming here," Hank looked at the little girl. "Think real hard my dear, did you do anything before coming here that might have caused your power levels to stabilize."

The six year old looked at him blankly, "What's stabilize mean?"

"Ok, let me put it another way, did you do anything special before coming here?"

"It is important dat you tell us, petite," her father added.

"I don't know," she said. She wasn't able to make the connection to what Uncle Hank was saying, but David understood it. Perhaps it had to do with all the time the little boy spent with blue furred doctor.

"Wait I do," exclaimed David whom had been sitting in his mother's lap. He scurried off her lap and went over to Jessica. "Our secret Jessie-Rose."

"Should we tell them," she asked David as she scurried off her father's lap and stood next to her friend. Remy took a deck of cards out and shuffled them nervously.

"You heard him, he said that it is im..port...ant," he said sounding out the big word Mr. Remy used. "I just want you to be OK, let Dr. Hank help." He placed his palms face out in front of her.

"Well, ok, but now they are gonna know an' I might get in trouble," she placed her hands on his and she felt their secret flow out of her and into David. Once she felt finished she stepped back from him. "I do this Uncle Hank when I feel icky. David said a long time ago that he wanted to help me and we learned that he could help me and I don't feel so icky any more.

"I don't understand," Monica said. To her it didn't look like anything had happened.

"Look," David said. "I can do what Jessie-Rose and Mr. Remy do." He reached over to Remy and took one of the cards the Remy had been toying with. After a second, the little boy charged the card and threw it into the air, causing it to explode. A look of shock went over the adults' faces.

Dr. McCoy grabbed a device off the table and ran the scanner over the children. He nearly dropped it when he saw the results. Noting the expression on the doctor both Remy and Monica asked him what was wrong at the same time.

"I don't know how this is possible, but some how Jessica managed to give David a portion of her powers. At least that's what it appears to be. Jessica's levels are stable, but David isn't registering a reading. Probably because these are not his powers, rather he has them 'on loan.' In fact, like his sister, David does not carry the X-gene so I can tell you for a fact that these are not his powers. I just checked for it on him to make sure it wasn't his own power manifesting early. The only thing I can equate this to is how certain superheroes are not mutants because they do not carry the X-gene, even if they have powers1. But somehow I doubt the results of the transfer are permanent."

"Does permanent mean forever," Jessica asked.

"Yes," said Hank.

"No, David keeps them for a little bit, not long, not forever," the little girl stated.

"Wait, I'm not going to ever have cool powers like Jessie-Rose," asked the little boy, clearly disturbed by what Hank said about the lack of the X-gene.

"No David, you will be like Carlie and your mom. You will not be a mutant."

The little boy looked like he was going to cry until Jessica said to him, "Don't worry, you can share mine. I don't want them all, they make me feel icky sometimes and you make me feel better when you help share."

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Later that night, not long after Remy put his daughter to bed; he sat contently on his bed talking to a beautiful woman.

"So Chere, you miss dis Cajun," he asked his wife who had called him from California. She explained that she wanted to check up on their friends at Valle Soleada and he understood, after all, they lived on the other side of the country and didn't see them often. He also made sure to inform Rogue of everything that occurred during Jessica's appointment with Hank earlier. Once they had all that business out of the way, they turned to their own feelings for each other.

"Of course Ah do Shugah," Rogue said into her cell phone. She was walking alone the peaceful street in Valle Soleada that she had frequented so many years before. It was nearly a lifetime ago. "But don't get me started on that right now, just wait 'til Ah get home."

"Is dat a promise or a t'reat," he said smiling with extra charm, despite the fact she couldn't see his face.

"Depends on how ya wanna take it," she flirted into the phone.

"Oh Chere," he chucked and then turned serious. "I miss you so much, hurry back."

"Ah will Remy Ah promise," she stopped in front of a building and said, "Well, Ah'm here so Ah gotta go. Kiss Jessica foah me when she wakes up."

"Will do Rogue."

"Ah love ya, Swamp Rat."

He smiled, "I love you too, _toujours_." He hung up the phone and turned on the TV. It would be a while before he could sleep; it had been hard lately with her half of the bed empty.

Meanwhile, in California, where the sun wouldn't be setting for another hour or two, Rogue hung up her cell phone and threw it in her purse. Sage and Bishop were at the XSE office doing what they needed to do and she said that she'd fly herself home once she finished her business. She looked at the building she stood in front of. This garage is where she as Anna Raven had worked along side of some of the nicest guys she had ever met. Through letters and emails, she had kept in touch with them and they knew of her mutant heritage and her 'real' name of Rogue. She just hoped she had done the right thing by dropping by.

"Anna…Rogue, is that you? After all this time you haven't changed a bit!"

Rogue turned around and realized it was one of the guys she had worked with at the garage. He was carrying a few cups of coffee so she figured the boys had a heavy load and were pulling a late shift.

"Now to what do we owe the great honor of having a beautiful woman like you come visit a bunch of grease monkeys like us?"

Rogue gave him a hug and took a few of the cups to lighten his load, "Oh Shugah, ya always did know how to make a gal blush. Actually Ah was in the neighborhood and thought Ah'd call on ya'll, just to see how things are goin'."

"Did you bring your darling daughter and devoted hubby with you?"

"No, it's just lil' old me this time. Why don't we head inside so Ah can say hi to everyone and tell ya'll about everythin'. Maybe even tinker with a few engines."

"Sounds great my dear," he said. They carried the cups of coffee and chatted on their way inside the garage where Rogue was in for one warm reception and an evening of laughing, talking, and mechanical goodness.

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1- Think Spider-man, he's really not considered a mutant in the Marvel Universe because he wasn't born with his powers, neither are a few other superheroes that got their powers by accident or from some other means, like Captain America.

**Author's Note- _WARNING_**_- contains shameless plug for C2:_Are you looking for a good X-men story, but just don't have to time to wait for an update? Look no further! Check out the new C2 archive **The Best of X-men One-Shots** (C2 ID # 2374). There you'll find a collection of one chapter, completed stories to satisfy your X-men craving. Drop me a line if you want to be on the staff, the more the merrier! :-) Also, check out these other two cool C2 communities which have oodles of fun X-men stories between them!: **Romyness**** and All that other good X-Men Stuff** (#174) and** Only the Best of Harry Potter and X-Men Fanfiction **(#2094).

**Tammy-** I think as we'll see, Jubilee doesn't really know how she feels about the whole Bobby-Damien dilemma. But she'll follow her heart in the end, whichever way that may take her.

**Ishandahalf****-** Yeah, I love Ororo and Logan romance too, maybe part of it is because subconsciously it keeps her away from Gambit. Sorry, lingering feelings of annoyance about that whole scene that was in a certain issue of X-treme X-men where Storm and Gambit kissed. Hope you enjoy what I cooked up in this chapter! :-)

**Y.Frost****-** Yeah, everyone thought I should have finished Chapter 24 a bit better, but I did include what I wanted to say in subsequent chapters. Don't worry, everything will come full circle by the end of the story. Glad you like the side of Gambit portrayed in this story. :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** See, I think Jubilee is a bit confused, now she's got a guy who is totally into her but she still could have lingering feelings for Bobby. So we'll have to wait to see how that words out. As for Ororo and Logan, yeah why should they waste any more time, it's time they took it to the next level. :-)

**Roguedoll****-** Wow, I hope you didn't read it in one shot, I know it's long. If you did read it all at once, I am impressed! I'm glad you like it so much, I hope you continue to enjoy it! :-)

**T.-**Thanks, glad you like all the various relationships, romantic or otherwise! :-)

**Andy- **I'm glad that this story is pretty easy to keep up with, I was afraid that maybe it was a bit confusing. I hope you keep enjoying it! :-)

**Quing****-** Wow, thank you so much for your kind words! I hope you keep on liking it! :-)

**Kitsu**** LeBeau- **As you see in this chapter, it's pretty hard to want to dislike Damien, after all, he's so nice to everyone and he really seems to care for Jubilee. Then again one could make the argument about Joseph and Rogue… But something tells me not to count Bobby out just yet, I'm sure he's got something up his sleeve besides his arm! :-) PS: Thanks for the invite to be on your C2 staff, I feel very honored! Although I don't read Harry Potter fics, I can help you out in the X-men department! :-)


	28. Getting Back into the Swing of Things

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family, Damien, and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Rogue's flight home didn't take very long, especially since she used her powers and flew herself rather than waiting for Sage and Bishop or trying to get a commercial flight. She enjoyed the long flight, she didn't get to make trips like that very often, and it was very relaxing, very freeing. Once she landed in front of her house, unlocked the door, and made her way into the kitchen, she was surprised to see a note on the table. It was from Remy and it said how much he missed her, loved her, and how he couldn't wait for her to come home tonight as well as a few other suggestive ideas. She also noticed that it was in French, probably to keep Jessica, who was reading better everyday, from sneaking a peek and asking questions. Their daughter could speak French due to the fact it was used in their household, but reading it was something they never exposed her too, it helped when they wanted to write out things they didn't want her to read. Rogue also wondered how Remy knew she was coming home today, she hadn't told him. All he knew was that she was spending a week or so in Valle Soleada. Since the family was out she decided to run upstairs, take a shower, and change. No sooner had she finished all that and started to read in her bed then the phone rang. She picked the receiver up and said "Hello?"

"Hey Rogue," said the voice on the other end.

"Jean, Shugah, Ah just don't understand how you of all people feel the need to use the phone. What's the use of havin' telepathy if ya don't use it," she joked, though silently wondered why her friend didn't just use her powers instead of picking up the phone. Thought now that she thought about it, the Professor did the same thing. Telepaths, who could predict what they would do, well except themselves to a degree.

Jean giggled, "Well, I guess it's just habit to use the phone, you know, the need to feel 'normal.'"

"Ah hear ya there!"

"But I'll give you a hint; I did sense your presence so I decided to call."

"Well thank ya. Is Remy over there?"

"I believe he is in a faculty meeting with Xavier and everyone. Don't forget the first day at the Xavier Institute starts next week."

"Right, Ah nearly forgot! And the children will be going back to there school soon too. Wow, time really flies! Guess that's what Ah get for bein' away for about a month."

"It happens. So anyway, I called to ask you if you heard what happened while you were away? I wasn't sure if you had a chance to talk to Remy about it."

"What do ya mean? What are ya talking about Shugah?"

"Ooo, girl we have got to talk!" Jean then proceeded to tell a very elated, if not too surprised, Rogue the news about Logan and Ororo. Last night when a bunch of them were having dinner at the Mansion, something the happens on a nearly monthly basis, Logan and Ororo broke the news that they were planning on getting married which floored nearly everyone, telepaths included, especially since no one knew they were even an item. Jean said that Remy was the only one who wasn't really surprised, as if he sort of knew all along that something was up. While Jean told her all this, Rogue smiled to herself, recalling a conversation she had with Logan a few years back about his feelings for Ororo.(1) She couldn't wait to hear it from Ororo and Logan. This was going to be the most exciting and wondrous event to happen to the X-men in a long time!

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Later that afternoon, Remy was walking back from the Mansion, hand-in-hand with his daughter. This had become a summer tradition for them; he'd talk her to the Mansion to play with friends and learn self-defense while he hung out with some of the X-men and prepared lesson plans for the upcoming school year. They would always have wonderful conversations while they walked, where she would tell him all sorts of things, everything from what was on her mind to what she and her friends did that day. School was starting in one week for both of them and frankly he was going to miss this special time with her. While his little girl excitedly told a story about how she and Nathaniel played some game earlier today Remy secretly hoped that as the years when by he and Jessica would always be this close. He wanted her to stay 'Poppa's lil girl,' his little Wildcard, forever.

"Do you think Momma will be home today, Poppa," she asked him after finishing her story. She looked up at him with those green eyes of hers, and Remy felt a longing to see his wife this very moment.

"I certainly hope so _petite_, I certainly hope so."

He didn't have to wait long to find out as they approached the house and a figure sitting on the front steps started running towards them.

"CHERE," he exclaimed and took off running with his young daughter hot on his heels. He took Rogue up into his arms and kissed her passionately. Then he picked Jessica up too, his two special ladies back where they should be, right in his arms and gave them a long hug. After a few moments he put them down and then the three of them walked hand-in-hand with Jessica swinging in the middle, back to the house.

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Later that night, putting Jessica to bed, Mr. and Mrs. LeBeau cuddled in their room, catching up on all the things that they had done while they were away from each other. "So, how'd ya know Ah'd be back tonight," Rogue said as she cuddled up to her husband. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the note.

Remy grinned that devilish smile of his when he had something up his sleeve. "Well, t'be perfectly honest wit' you, I didn't know, so I made sure to leave you a note every day since you've been gone. T'ey're in my desk drawer if you don't believe me."

Rogue smiled at his sweet and simple gesture, "Well, maybe Ah'll check that out later, but there's somethin' else Ah'd rather do right now."

He smirked and asked, "And what's dat?"

"Ah'll give ya a hint, it starts with 'Y,' has an 'O,' in the middle, and ends with a 'U.'"

With the door safety closed and Jessica in asleep in her room, Remy pulled his wife close and proceed happily with Rogue's suggestion.

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One week later Jessica LeBeau sat in her classroom, her new classroom. Today was her first day of first grade. She could already tell that it was going to be different than kindergarten and pre-school had been. This year she only had class with Nathaniel Summers. David Williams was in the other first grade class. Forever an optimist, the little girl thought to herself that at least they'd see each other at lunch and recess and being in separate classes would give them something different to talk about. She decided that if they drew pictures today she'd draw one for David to make him feel better. He didn't seem to like the idea of being separated from his friends. This year was also different because only her mother brought her to school. The other two years both her parents brought her for the first day, but her father had to start his first day of school too. Originally she thought that Remy was attending school like she was until Rogue explained that he was going to be a teacher. Picturing her father in the position that her new teacher Mrs. Kendal was in made her laugh silently, especially since Mrs. Kendal was an older woman with white puffy hair and her father was well…Poppa!

"Ok class," said the jovial, grandmotherly Mrs. Kendal, "Before we begin with our writing lesson, let's take some time to answer some questions. I know you all must have questions about school and life and maybe about me. We'll do this everyday because a curious mind that asks questions is a mind that is sure to be smart. Today I want everyone to ask me one question and I will try to answer it." Jessica and Nathaniel, as well as the other students all seemed to love Mrs. Kendal. For all the years she taught there, she was always a favorite among students, and they'd visit her many years after they had her, and she ALWAYS knew who they were, even if they had changed so much.

The students' questions were fairly routine; some asked what they were going to learn this year, one boy asked if there was still going to be naptime and was disappointed when he was told no. A few children asked questions about animals and trees. A number of students had questions directly for the teacher, like what her favorite color was and who she was best friends with. When it was Nathaniel's turn he asked the teacher if she ever read "The Cat in the Hat," and she smiled and him and said that she had and she liked that book to which he agreed. Jessica asked the teacher had any brothers or sisters, when she said that she was an only child, Jessica couldn't help but say "Me too!" Both she and Nathaniel turned to each other; after all they sat next to each other, and smiled. This was going to be a good year.

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While Jessica and Nathaniel's class had their fun question and answer session, David's class was in the middle of being read a story. They all sat in a circle around Mr. Troy, who read an entertaining story to the group of interested students. David was enjoying the story too until the teacher was called into the hall by the principal to ask him a question. Once the teacher was out of ear-shot and talking with his boss, the students began to talk amongst themselves. David felt his hair pulled, hard, and he turned around to see this kid Max from his kindergarten class last year. Max was a big kid, and despite the fact that everyone remembered him from a certain bug-eating incident last year, no one would ever bring it up unless they wanted a beating from him.

"Ow," exclaimed David as he rubbed his head. "What was that for?"

"Just so you know," Max threatened, "I don't like you."

Before he could say any more, the teacher came back into the room to finish the story. David spent the rest of the story wondering what caused Max to say that. He wished that Jessie-Rose and Natey were here. Nothing could hurt them when they were together, and now he was alone. David also couldn't help but think that this was not going to be a good year.

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One Saturday afternoon in November, Ororo sat at the kitchen table in the Mansion, drinking some coffee with her two closest friends and going over some wedding plans. She couldn't wait for her upcoming wedding with Logan. It was going to be over the summer so they quite some time to plan it. Not that they needed all that time, but they figured they might as well give themselves some time and not rush into things. She smiled at that thought, not rush into things, this coming from the people who got engaged after dating for about five minutes. But they wanted to give themselves some time, and wait for the school year to be over. Like Remy, she was a new teacher at the Xavier Institute, teaching some of the science classes, mainly Earth Science and Biology. She left the chemistry and all that up to Hank. That was his field of expertise, not hers.

" 'Ro, you are going to love being married, nothing beats waking up next to the love of your life every single day," Jean said joyfully. Being married the longest Jean was sort of the resident marital expert in the group. In fact they had been married so long, that Ororo couldn't even tell you how long it had been. But she did recall their wedding. So much had changed since then. Ororo had been Jean's maid of honor, Logan wasn't even at the wedding, off instead on some sort of personal quest. Rogue and Remy attended together, even catching the bouquet and garter respectively. Although their relationship was more flirtatious than serious at the time and would go though many changes over the years before arriving where they were today. Still, it was amazing how things worked out over time.

"Ah agree Shugah," said Rogue. "Ya and Logan are so wonderful togethah, it warms mah heart to see the both of ya so happy." As with Jean's wedding, Ororo had been Rogue's maid of honor as well. As a result, the weather witch couldn't choice between them so decided to make them co-maids of honor. It seemed like a logical choice all around.

"But enough of this chit-chat, we've got a wedding to plan and less than a year to do it," proclaimed Jean.

"Now Jean, ya both helped plan my wedding in less time than that. How much notice did Ah give ya, two months maybe?"

"Yeah," laughed the red-head," "And I still haven't forgiven you for it!"

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Bobby Drake couldn't believe what was happening. Jubilee had been seeing Damien for a few months now, and try as hard as he could, he couldn't help but like the guy as a person. The fact that he was so nice to everyone, especially Jubilee made it hard to hate his guts. But Bobby kept trying to remind himself that he was suppose to hate Damien, or at least strongly dislike him, not become friendly with him. He kept repeating "I can't like him, I won't like him" as he watched Damien knock over two more pins, still leaving 4 standing after his second try.

"Didn't get them all, but I'm not as good at this as you are Bobby," laughed Damien. Bobby couldn't believe he agreed to go bowling with the man he was suppose to loath, but the happiness in Jubilee's eyes when Damien asked to hang out with him the other night during dinner made him immediately say yes.

"Yeah, well I guess I'm just a little more motivated," Bobby laughed back.

"What's your secret," Damien inquired.

"Oh just a little visualization," said Bobby as he pictured Damien kissing Jubilee on all the pins as he proceeded to successfully get a strike, his 4th in a row.

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(1)- occurred in Chapter 20

**Author's Note-** Wow, between this chapter and the last chapter I've seen a number of people come out of the woodwork and I am amazed so many people are reading this! Thanks everyone for encouraging me and reading this! You are all awesome! :-)

**Kitsu**** LeBeau-** Well, we'll have to wait and see if Jessica can pass her powers to other people, but being a non-mutant, David is the perfect vessel to temporarily hold some of her power. After all he doesn't have any of his own to clog up his body.

**Tammy**- Your wish to see what happens when Rogue returned is my command! Glad you enjoyed her dealing with the mission. :-)

**Ishandahalf****- **Hehe, I think Damien's being a decent guy isn't the only problem Bobby faces, as we have just seen. Bobby's gotta prevent himself from liking this amiable guy too! What a conundrum! After reading your comment about a math teacher in your school with the name Mr. Johnson, I realized that there was a Mr. Johnson math teacher back in my high school too, but I never had him so I didn't think anything of it. I was just thinking of a standard no-frills name. Funny how the subconscious works! And of course your fics would be in my community (as well as anyone else's community), your fics are awesome! :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** Yeah, I hope that cleared things up, at least for now. :-)

**Adeline-** Wow, you read 26 chapters in one shot, my hat is off to you! While writing the story I'll re-read it to make sure I didn't forget to include things later on and I don't think I could read it in nearly one shot like that. Thank you for your words of encouragement and I hope you continue to enjoy it! :-)

**giveGodtheglory****-**Thanks for checking out my story, I checked out a few of yours, but especially enjoyed "Beauty for Ashes," it was just so interesting to see Creed in that type of role! :-)

**The 'Pike- **Thank you for reading my story; I hope you continue to enjoy it. As for the repetition of certain phrases in Evo stories, perhaps it is because the mannerisms just fit the characters well? After all, in many of the comic based stories, Rogue is sassier while in movie based stories she can be shyer. Just a thought though :-)


	29. Setting the Stage

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family, Damien, and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Setting the Stage

Mrs. Kendal's class was in the middle of a lively question and answer session after recess. Summer break was starting in a few days, and they had learned so much in this past year. None of them wanted it to end. One girl even asked if it was possible to stay here in first grade with her instead of moving on to second grade, and was nearly on the verge of tears when she was told that she indeed could not stay back. The question and answer session was Jessica's favorite part of the day, even better than show and tell which was Nathaniel's favorite. Maybe it was the fact that Jessica loved to learn the answers to all the questions she had stored up inside of her. Maybe it was the fact the teacher tactfully answered a question sometime around November that was aimed directly at her. A little boy asked during the Q & A session why Jessica had a streak of white hair when only adults like Mrs. Kendal should have white hair. Jessica didn't know what to say to that, it never really occurred to her that her hair made her different. After all, Momma had the same streak. But Mrs. Kendal handled the question with grace. She said that all people have different hair colors. She noted that around the classroom there were students with blonde, black, brown, and red hair. She also stated that sometimes people have white patches in their hair because it was genetic (she also explained what genetic meant, a point Nathaniel was happy about since he heard Uncle Hank use it all the time). Mrs. Kendal explained that she knew a boy in college that had a tiny white patch on the side of his head. In fact, that boy's grandmother grew up with the same white patch. She asked Jessica if anyone else in her family had the white streak to which Jessica replied that her Momma did. The class then understood that Jessica's unique hair was genetic and therefore it was never a factor in school again, much to the little girl's delight. Yes, Jessica was going to miss Mrs. Kendal and the first grade.

She shared this thought with Nathaniel as they left the classroom at the end of the day. They walked down the hall of the school to the playground outside where they were to wait for Aunt Jean. This is what happened everyday. She, Natey, and David would wait for Aunt Jean while they sat on the swings and talked about their day. Today they saw David sitting on the swings, already out there waiting. But they dropped their backpacks and starting running towards him after they saw what happened to him.

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David Williams sat on one of the swings waiting for his friends to get out of class. His class got out a few minutes early and Mr. Troy let them play outside until their parents came. Since his mom worked at the local college, one of his neighbors down the street, Ms. Jean always picked him up. Then he and his friends would go back to the Mansion and play. Or sometimes he'd spend time with Dr. Hank. Sometimes he'd join his friends in their self- defense class with Mr. Logan, but he wasn't very good at it so it didn't help him with his bully problem. He didn't like being physically awkward in front of his friends, he didn't have cool powers like Jessie-Rose (unless of course she needed him to borrow them for a bit) and he didn't have Natey's athletic talent. He was pretty smart, but that didn't help him out with his problem with Max. That boy picked on him every chance he got. Luckily it wasn't everyday, whenever a parent or teacher was around, which was most of the time, Max left him alone. Also, if Natey or Jessie-Rose were there he was pretty safe too since there were witnesses. But whenever Max would get him alone, he would tease him, call him names, but luckily he didn't usually do anything physical to him. He didn't want to tell his mom either; he knew that his dad died because of a bully, at least that was how he saw it in his mind. He didn't want her to worry about him.

Just as he saw Jessie-Rose and Natey coming through the doors from the school to the playground, someone shoved him off the swings and started pounding on him. He saw Jessica and Natey drop their backpacks and come running towards him.

Jessica and Nathaniel weren't the only ones that saw what happened, as adult footsteps followed behind them.

"Max Cooper, what is the meaning of this," bellowed Mr. Troy, David's teacher came running over to the two boys. Not realizing the teacher had seen what happened, Max got off David immediately.

"We were just playing Mr. Troy, really," Max started to say, but many years of teaching made him wiser to this and he stopped the bully before he could say anymore.

"Save it Max, I saw what happened. What do you have to say to David?"

"I'm sorry," he grumbled without feeling.

"Good, now, we are going to take a little walk down to the principal's office, ok." After checking David over to make sure he was unharmed, Mr. Troy escorted his young detainee to the principal. After they had left Jessica helped David up while Nathaniel went back to get the bags they dropped in their haste.

"Are you ok David?"

"I'm fine Jessie-Rose, don't worry about me."

"I have to worry silly, you're my best friend," she leaned over and gave him a hug. He hugged her back and then helped her onto the swing and began to push her on it, just the way they always did. She giggled with delight, but then proceeded to tell him what was on her mind.

"Really David, don't let him bother you, Max is a poop."

David giggled, "Yeah, a bug eating poop."

They both giggled the way first graders tend to do. At this point Nathaniel had rejoined them placing Jessica and his backpacks on the ground by David's. He grabbed the swing next to Jessica's but didn't move on it. He sat so that he was facing David, who was still pushing Jessica's swing. Nathaniel then took on a tone that any of the X-men would think was channeling Cyclops.

"David, something tells me that Max has been picking on you for a while. You should have told us, we are a team we stick together. That's what we do. Promise me that you won't keep things like this from us again."

Jessica's swing came to a halt. She spun around so that she was facing David too. David looked at his friends, knowing how lucky he was to have them, and knowing that it would be a relief to not have to suffer in silence, alone and scared.

"But I don't want him to pick on you too," the blonde haired boy said pushing is glasses back in place.

Once again, channeling his father, Nathaniel stated, "That's not your call to make, it's ours."

"Yeah Shugah," Jessica echoed. "Nothing can beat us together, not some bug eating poop bully, not anything.

"Thanks you guys, you're the best!" They then proceeded to play tag until Jean arrived to take them back to the Mansion.

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A few days later, Remy LeBeau was cleaning out the last drawer in his desk and placing the papers in a big box. He'd need a lot of that stuff for next year so he wanted to keep it safe. Mon Dieu, this year went fast, he thought to himself. It felt like just yesterday he was making introductions to his students, and doing the best he could to keep the female students interested in the lesson, instead of him. But it was fun, and he loved it. Hopefully next year's students would be as fun as this year's had been. Now he had the whole summer off, an idea that pleased him. He wondered why he didn't go into teaching in the first place, for him it was the perfect job, next to thieving of course. It was a new challenge everyday, he got the summer off so he could pursue other things, and it was honest which was a factor Rogue appreciated for the sake of their family. Just as he put the last pile of papers into his box he heard a knock at the classroom door. Thinking that a student forgot something in their haste to start summer break, he said they could enter, but he didn't looked up from his task until he caught a familiar scent of lavender and auto shop smells.

"Well, well, Mrs. LeBeau, what have you been up too," he said smiling at his grease covered wife. Her entire jumpsuit was covered, and her face had dark spots all over it. But she even managed to make that look good somehow.

"Logan and Ah were tryin' to fix a leak in the fuel tank of one of the minijets; unfortunately we didn't take into consideration how big the leak really was. Next time Bishop borrows one of the jets for a mission and says that he might have gotten a small hole in somethin', Ah'll know better," she smiled at him holding up her arms in frustration.

Remy got out of his chair and made his way over to her. "Den is dis your way of tellin' me dat it's time for you t'go home too?"

"Honestly, if Ah have to look at another piece of machinery, Ah'll scream."

He took her left hand in his, removed the stained glove and kissed her hand. "Well, chere, since you had a bad day, I'll make it up to you in t'best way dis Cajun knows how."

She looked at him with a longing desire in her eyes, "Are ya gonna cook me dinner, Remy, please say that ya will!"

Remy chuckled softly, "Well, I can do dat too, if it will make you happy."

"Ya know it will."

He pulled her in close to him, but she pushed him away, "Don't Remy, ya'll get yoah clothes all dirty."

He pulled her in close anyway and gave her a long, passionate kiss. "Don't be silly girl, you t'ink after all dis time, a lil' bit of grease is gonna keep me from you?"

She returned his kiss and then helped him carry his large box out of the classroom as they made their way to pry Jessica away from her friends and head home.

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"He wants you to do WHAT," exclaimed Bobby Drake. "No, no, you can't do it, I absolutely forbid it!"

"Chill, Bobby, I haven't decided yet, and besides, it's my life, I can do as I damn well please," Jubilee shouted back.

This had begun as a very civil conversation between two friends in the dorm's kitchen. The students were all asleep, well at least those that were left, after all summer break had just started the other day. Most students had already gone home leaving just a dozen or so behind that didn't have anywhere else to go as had happened every year since the inception of this school.

"Well what about your commitment to the school," Bobby asked.

"Xavier can find someone else, jeez, it's not like there's no one left in the Mansion," an exasperated Jubilee said.

"But why Chicago? Why not someplace closer?"

"Because that's where Damien's job transferred him to and since he asked me to go with him and since...And I do...I mean...," she paused before she fumbled some more. "He's a great guy Bobby, why shouldn't I go?" With that she left the room in a huff, leaving Bobby standing there to contemplate silently the reasons she should stay here with him.

Meanwhile back in her room Jubilee milled over what she had just said. She had nearly said "And I do love him" about her boyfriend; however she couldn't bring herself to form the words. Why not? She did care for him and he was a great guy. But something was holding her back from making that sort of commitment and she knew exactly what it was too. Bobby. But why? Damien obviously cared for her, maybe even loved her. He showed her everyday how much she meant to him. But Bobby? He cared for her as a friend, sure, but he didn't love her like that, did he? No, he made that clear last year. But she couldn't shake that feeling. She was still in love with him. But he didn't love her, and Damien seemed to. No, Damien didn't just seem to, he definitely did. Why else would he want her to come to Chicago with him? He treated her wonderfully; all the X-men loved him, heck even Wolverine gave his unrestrained approval, which rarely ever happens. She made up her mind. She'd go to Chicago with Damien and forget out her feelings for Bobby Drake. She sat down at her desk, turned on her computer, and began to write a rough draft letter of resignation to Professor Xavier.

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A few weeks later, Professor Xavier mulled over Jubilee's resignation and sought to find a replacement for her. Jubilee began packing and stopped talking to Bobby. Bobby tried to think of ways to tell Jubilee how he felt. The Summers' clan was in Alaska making their annual visit to Scott's grandparents. The LeBeau's had just come back from a wonderful visit to see Jean-Luc LeBeau and Tante Mattie in New Orleans; this time there were no surprise visits from Belladonna. Kurt conducted business as usual at his church. Storm and Wolverine made the final plans for their fast approaching wedding. Monica Williams picked up the summer semester at her college teaching a few classes while David spent his time at the Mansion, and Carlie was away at camp as a councilor. On one of these normal summer days, Hank and his little shadow were in the lab. Hank was analyzing samples while David sat at the computer.

"What's this Dr. Hank," David asked Hank. The little boy seemed so undersized in the chair specifically made for the large, furry X-man. It made him look even smaller than his eight years of age. He was on his knees leaning over to the keyboard of the good doctor's computer.

"Let me see," Hank walked over to the computer and was surprised at the results. "Why those are top secret files, how on Earth did you access them?"

The little boy proceeded to explain how he put together all the processes Hank had taught him since taking him under his wing. Although he'd have to explain to David not to go though files he shouldn't be accesses, he couldn't help but be proud that his protégée was so smart.

"Well, my little Hacker someday you might just pass me up on computer skills. It always seems to be that way huh, the younger generation picks up on technology faster than its predecessors," Hank mused aloud, mainly to himself.

"Uh huh," the newly christened Hacker mumbled while he looked for that computer game he KNEW Dr. McCoy kept on here. He always saw him playing it...AH HA, there it was. Hank went back to his analysis and David played his game.

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Men and women of all ages gathered in a meeting hall waiting for things to begin. A closer look into a few of the conversations reveals nothing out of the ordinary. In one corner a group of women laughed and told stories cute stories about their children, catching each other up on what might have happened to them since the last time they all met. In another corner some men ranted and raved about the local baseball team and how they weren't having as good of a season as expected. Still another conversation among a group of high school students consisted of complaining how impossible it was to get tickets to see the latest band perform. There was nothing out of the ordinary about this group until the meeting was called to order and everyone took a seat.

The man at the podium banged a gavel and spoke, "This monthly meeting of the Friends of Humanity will now come to order! It is refreshing to see so many new faces as well as familiar ones here this month!"

The Friends of Humanity. The name alone will send cold chills down the spines of those who do not believe in their cause. The name alone can cause even the strongest mutant to become momentarily weak with fear. That is because this organization thrives on fear and hatred. Sometimes even whole families become part of it, in hopes of eradicating the mutant menace and making society safe for normal humans. This meeting isn't the only one being conducted, but rather there are hundreds like it going on around the country, maybe even around the world. This was just one chapter of it holding its monthly meetings in Salem Center, Westchester County, New York. Hundreds of people gather here from many of the neighboring towns to discuss the same thing...what to do about the mutant menace.

There are ground rules to being in this organization of course, most importantly is that you cannot be a mutant. That's why most of the members are no younger than 16 or so, insurance that children brought into the organizations won't turn into mutants later. But younger children are raised with the values of the FOH at home; the parents make sure of it. One member sitting in the front row, Max Cooper, Max Cooper Senior that is, made sure that Junior knew the importance of humans over mutants. When he heard that the son of the good-for-nothing, thankfully dead mutie-loving Senator was in his boy's class, he was upset. He didn't want his son exposed to any mutie-loving ideas. When he heard that Max bullied that boy, he couldn't help but be proud. He even refused to punish the boy after getting a call from the principal when he got in a fight. Rather, Max was rewarded for his behavior towards David Williams. And Max Junior enjoyed the attention that his father gave him.

At the meeting, newly elected chapter president Jackson Porter lead the group in discussing new and old business.(1) But he knew he had to keep it brief since he had another meeting to go to. Word of his work getting the local schools, and eventually most schools in the state, set up with mutant scanning devices had spread to the higher-ups. And they liked what they heard, so they wanted to meet with him about a new project.

After the meeting was over, Porter made his way to DC on board one of the FOH's private jets. It did help having a number of wealthy members. At this meeting he was told that there was a new technology being developed; one that would wipe away the mutant menace once and for all. But it would take many years to develop, probably a decade or so, depending on how fast they could work. They already had the funding, they just needed a location and they wanted to develop it in Upstate New York. They figured that if they went as far upstate as possible, they wouldn't be bothered by the authorities. The remote wilderness on the border of the US and Canada would provide the perfect location for this wonderful new technology. After hearing the proposal, Jackson Porter shook hands with the other men and women present agreeing to their terms. He would find a nice, secluded location for them to conduct their research and construction. On the plane ride back he pulled out a picture of his daughter, her husband, and his infant grandson. He knew this technology would make the world safe for them. A device that could wipe out mutants world wide in one shot, it was too good to be true, but if it meant making the world safe for his little grandson, then he would do everything in his power to see the FOH dream become reality.

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**Author's Note-** Ok, I tried to fix it, but I don't know what's up with For some reason the first bunch of chapters don't show up as having titles. Weird. I'll keep trying to fix it though. Anyway, not just yet, but soon, prepare for another "timewarp," with the plot lines of this part of the story wrapping themselves up, it's almost time to hit the next part. I've started to plant the seeds for the next important part too, so you'll have to search for them. Does that make sense? Well, if not stay tuned to find out!

(1)- Hey, remember him from Ch 23 & 24?

**Tammy- **Glad you liked the romantic Remy and the girls chatting scenes! And you are right; it is hard not to like Damien. I mean I created him for conflict and didn't intend to care what happened to him, but now I like him too! :-P

**Ishandahalf-** If the requirement for all kindergarten or first grade teachers is to be grandmotherly, then mine never got the memo. My kindergarten teachers were super young and hip and my first grade teacher was EVIL! Well not evil, but she was scary. Don't worry, you won't have to wait too long for Storm and Wolverine's wedding, it's coming soon! Also glad that you enjoyed the LeBeau family's interactions. Honestly, they are just so much fun to write, I just think of all the things I wish Marvel would do, and then type it up! Oh and whistle innocently as much as you want, something tells me Rogue might want to be the one doing the comforting :-P

**Sweety8587-** Hmmmm, iced up bowling ball, nice touch! :-)

**T, Adeline, ANdy-** Thanks as always! Your encouragement keeps me going! :-)

**Brias-** YAY for Jersey! Thanks for reading my story and I hope you continue to enjoy it! :-)

**The 'Pike-** Well, I guess that Damien is a bit of both, I mean he is explained a little more in terms of background than just a temporary conflict character, but his main goal is to create a conflict. And don't be frightened to submit your own stuff. Hey, it isn't easy to submit anything on here, at least not at first! I mean I really was afraid to submit my first piece "Who Gives This Bride?" but then I figured "What the heck I have nothing to lose!" But you get use to it and then it becomes an addiction :-P


	30. The Union of Two Unlikely Souls

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family, Damien, and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter Thirty: The Union of Two Unlikely Souls

Remy stood in the doorway, holding his daughter's hand, anxious to get going. "Come on Chere," he called out to his absent wife. "We're going t'be late!" He bent down to pat down a piece of Jessica's white streak was sticking up from the delicate waves of her hair. He had to hand it to himself; he had not done a bad job getting her ready. She wanted her hair "wavey like Momma's hair" for this special day and Remy wasn't going to deny his princess of anything. He was half afraid of burning her hair to a crisp, but the little girl was so trusting of him that it gave him confidence. And the result was the adorable little flower girl in the soft green sundress in front of him. All she needed was the basket of flowers at the church and she was ready to go. As best man, Remy was on of his favorite casual suits, the kind with a shirt and jacket but no tie. Logan and Ororo had a compromise, he could do what he wanted with his wedding party and she could do what she wanted with hers. Ororo had her bridal party in matching soft green sundresses while Logan said the guys could come in sweats and he could care less. Knowing of course that the combination might not make for impressive wedding pictures, Remy and Scott coordinated the guys into wearing casual suits in earth tones to compliment the garden feel of Ororo's bridal party. He just wanted to get to the church in time to make sure Logan was wearing his. Knowing Logan, he might just show up in sweats anyway.

"Remy, stop worrying, we've got plenty of time," called Rogue from wherever in the house she was.

Remy shook his head and turned to his daughter, "When you get older petite, don't you take so long t'get ready, _oui_?"

"Ah heard that Remy LeBeau, and it's not like ya're exactly as fast as Quicksilver when ya get all dolled up either," said the voice now in front of him. She was truly gorgeous wearing the delicate green bridesmaid sundress that Storm picked out, complete with exotic blooms in her loose, wavy hair and arm length white gloves.

"Mon dieu," he breathed. No matter how many times he saw her dressed up fancy, every time felt like the first. She just had that quality about her.

She did a little spin, "Ya like, Swamp Rat?"

"Oui," was his response.

"You look pretty Momma," agreed Jessica.

Rogue bent over to pick her up. "And so do ya Shugah! Did you get yourself ready all by yoahself?"

"Poppa helped a little."

"Oh did he," Rogue questioned with a smirk towards Remy.

He whispered in his defense, "Poppa did more than help jus' a little."

Realizing that they had better get moving, the LeBeau family made their way down the street to the Little Chapel of Peace for the early morning ceremony.

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Once at the chapel, the LeBeau family made their way to the set of rooms where Logan and Ororo were getting ready respectively. Rogue took Jessica's hand made her way into the bridal room while Remy popped into the groom's room. Once in the groom's room, Remy noticed that Logan was already wearing his attire. Logan told Remy that he had to admit, the casual suit approach was probably better than wearing sweats and Logan preferred this to a tux, although if it had been Ororo's wish he would have worn one anyway, just like he wore one at the LeBeau's wedding. After noting that Logan and the other member's of the groom's wedding party were ready to go, he figured he'd check to see if the ladies were almost done. While Logan and Scott made their way into the church, Remy took Nathaniel to the bridal room. After all, as ring bearer the little boy would be walking down the isle with the women. He knocked on the door and when asked who it was, Nathaniel responed, "It's me, Natey." The door was opened and Remy walked in with the little boy.

"Well ladies, are we nearly ready," Remy asked. Jean was putting a few flowers in Jessica's hair while Rogue adjusted the flowers in the bride's hair. When she stepped out of the way, Remy looked at Ororo, wearing a white, long flowing sundress in the same style that the other women were wearing, and he had to admit, she looked radiant. Like the others, her hair was interwoven with exotic blooms as well as the ones she carried in her hands. He walked up to her and kissed her cheek.

"Lookin' good Stormy," he said to her, the same thing he always said to her whenever she looked the part of a weather goddess. He said it as she walked down the isle at Jean and Scott's wedding, he was pretty sure he said it to her at some point in his own wedding; it was just a running gag between them. She knew that when he said that, he thought she looked gorgeous.

"Thank you Remy, as do you," the bride said, the picture of calm on this exciting day. No one knew how she managed to always maintain such an even demeanor. After all, it was important for her to maintain control over her emotions, lest her powers wreak havoc, but even Logan seemed more nervous than she did. After a moment, Remy turned to the others in the room.

"Ready," he asked and the others voiced their agreement. With that Rogue and Jean took the hands of their respective children and Remy took Ororo's arm, and they made their way out.

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The wedding itself was lovely. Kurt was thrilled that the first wedding to be held in his chapel was that of two of his greatest friends. Jessica and Nathaniel made their way down the isle first, invoking the reaction of "awwwww" from nearly everyone present. Then Rogue and Jean walked down and finally Remy escorted the bride. Ororo considered Remy to be like a brother to her, as he felt she was a sister to him. So when she asked him to escort her down the isle, he couldn't help but feel that bond solidified even more so. Just like Logan said to him at his own wedding Remy said to the couple before taking his place as best man, "Take good care of each other," the exact quote making Logan smile at his friend's recollection. Throughout the ceremony, those who were married recalled their own unions and those who were in love but not married fantasized about their own future weddings. Logan and Ororo recited their own vows to each other, evoking strong, passionate emotions in nearly everyone, leaving hardly a dry eye in the place. At the end of the ceremony and to the cheers and applause of all who were present, Kurt enthusiastically presented the newlyweds. Being the fact that she had retained her name for so long, Ororo decided to remain Ororo Munroe, which Logan did not mind at all. After all, he felt the same way when he found out that his real name was James Howlett. To him, that person lived and died a lifetime ago, even if he is still that same person physically, he was Logan in all the ways that counted. He and Rogue talked about this a number of times, after all, she could relate to what he felt. Even if she now recalled the name she knew long ago, she was no longer that person anyway (1).

After they newly married couple was presented to those in attendance and the cheering had subsided, the respective wedding parties made their way out of the church, Nathaniel escorting Jessica, Scott, Remy, and now Logan escorting their wives.

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After the wedding, everyone gathered back at the Mansion that afternoon for the reception. The ballroom that the LeBeau's wedding, as well as the Institute's proms were held in was decorated with a stunning display of flowers. After finding out that one of her student's was looking for work as a DJ, Ororo hired him to play appropriate music for the event. The food was served in a buffet style which allowed everyone to eat when they wanted and how much they wanted. It also allowed the guests to start eating while the wedding party took pictures outside in the garden.

"Damien," Jubilee said while pulling her boyfriend over to a young woman about their age. "I'd like you to meet my friend Kitty Pryde. Kitty's here from Chicago."

"Well what a coincidence," Damien said. "You probably already know that the lovely Jubilee and I are moving out there tonight in fact."

"I know," Kitty smiled, she could see why Jubilee was going out with this guy, he was hot! "In fact, we all are on the same flight!" They then went on about the Windy City, while Jubilee felt herself being pulled aside by Bobby.

"Not now, Bobby."

"Jubilee we have to talk, _now_," he said, stressing the word now.

Before he could begin, the DJ announced that the bride and groom had entered the room and the crowd erupted into cheers for the happy couple. He then announced that they would be tossing the bouquet and garter respectively. The single men lined up on one side of the room and the single women lined up on the other side. Jubilee eagerly left Bobby and stood next to Kitty by the single women. Begrudgingly, Bobby was pulled along by Damien over to the single men.

Ororo lifted up the train of her dress just enough to reveal a tiny bit of leg, and proceed to wiggle it a little when the guys started to whistle. It was all in good fun. Logan took the garter off and helped Ororo up and handed her back her bouquet. They then each took their places on opposite sides of the room and on the count of three tossed their respective objects. When the proverbial dust had settled Bobby Drake and Jubilation Lee were the two holding onto these things and each of them was turning red. The DJ called for the two 'winners' to come forward to the front of the room, and each felt themselves being pushed forward. Jubilee sat in the chair and Bobby proceeded to put the garter on her leg.

"Careful Drake, that's my girl," Damien called out in jest, to the laughs of Jubilee and the others. Bobby felt himself turning red and for the first time in a long time, he felt rather warm. As soon as it was over, he was ready to just go back to his room. But the DJ had other ideas hen he announced that it was time for them, the 'winners,' to join the newlyweds in a slow dance. After the dance, he still didn't get a chance to talk to Jubilee as she was whisked away by Damien and he wound up dancing with Kitty Pryde for a while until she realized that he was a less than enthusiastic dance partner and proceeded to get some food. Bobby decided to get some air since for the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt himself sweating; though it wasn't the result of the dancing as some of the guests may have assumed, rather because of his feelings that were bottled up insides and ready to burst through the surface. He left the party to go stand out on the balcony.

Elsewhere in the room a small argument broke out amongst friends.

"I want to dance with Jessie-Rose now," David whined to Nathaniel, who had danced with his friend for nearly the entire afternoon, leaving the blonde haired boy quite lonely.

"No, I'm the ring bearer, I get to 'cause she's the flower girl and you're just the guest," Nathaniel retorted, flexing his perceived power as a member of the bridal party. Before Jessica could say anything and the argument could escalate further, Professor X, who was sitting at the table next to where the children danced and had been monitoring them, intervened.

"Why don't the three of you dance together? You are all friends after all. Wouldn't that be a better solution then getting angry," he calmly suggested to the children.

"_Oui_, I like that plan, come on boys," Jessica exclaimed taking dragging each boy by the hand into the dance floor where they proceeded to dance in a small circle of their own.

"Nice save Professor," said Beast joined him at the table with a plate of food from the buffet. Kitty followed him with a plate of her own and took a seat as well.

"Yes Hank, if only all matters of the heart could be solved so easily," he said, thinking about the painfully obvious situation between Jubilee, Damien, and Bobby.

"I fear this is just the beginning Charles," stated the blue doctor. "We have seen how these situations have turned out before."

"Yeah," said Kitty after finished a mouthful of food. "The Jean-Grey syndrome if I'm not mistaken. Jean had to eventually pick between two men vying for her attention. It's a story that's as old as time itself."

"What is," asked Rogue who had joined the conversation with Remy in tow. After tearing it up on the dance floor all afternoon, even they needed a break. They collapsed into seats at the table while Remy took advantage of the water pitcher on the table, pouring a glass for himself and his thirsty wife.

"Love triangles," said Kitty, basically summing up the conversation, "And how they are so prevalent in our society."

"Like dose teenage dramas," Remy said. "T'hree friends, usually a girl an' two boys, den t'girl must choose between t'two _hommes_ eventually leadin' t'some angst." When he finished he took a long drink of water while the others at the table starred at him for a second until Rogue broke the silence.

"Ya watch those Remy, that's somethin' Ah nevah expected of ya. Jubilee, sure, Bobby, maybe, but not ya!"

Gambit nearly spit the water he was drinking across the table. "NON CHERE! Don't be ridiculous! T'students talk about it all t'time, can't help but pick up on it now and den."

They continued to stare at him.

"Ok, fine, don't believe me," he got up in a huff of annoyance and joined the children on the dance floor. They then looked at Rogue to see if she'd confirm or deny it. She just shrugged.

"I sense he was telling the truth," said the Professor.

"Yeah, but it's much more fun to annoy him," Kitty laughed. After a few minutes of talking, eating, and drinking, Rogue and Kitty joined the children on the dance floor while the Professor and Beast continued the conversation.

"So Charles, what do you think will happen with this supposed love triangle," Beast asked.

"Which do you refer to, the inevitable future one between the children or the current perceived one between Damien, Jubilee, and Bobby?"

The blue-furred mutant chewed his food while pondering this. Finally he spoke, "Both I suppose."

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"Oh man Damien, I've gotta stop," Jubilee gasped breathlessly, pulling him off the dance floor. "I'm going to get some air outside."

She left him conversing with some of the X-men while she headed out onto the balcony. She didn't even notice the figure out there with her, but he noticed her. He walked directly behind her but she was not aware of his presence until he spoke

"You still planning on leaving tomorrow," Bobby questioned.

"That's a dumb question," she said without turning to face him. "I'm all packed and ready to go; Kitty's already expecting to take me shopping out there, the Professor's probably already got my position filled. Nothing's holding me back."

"What about Damien, you didn't mention him in your priority list there."

"Well of course him too, don't be ridiculous…"

"You know Jubilee," he said cutting her thought off, "I thought I was suppose to be the master of ice, but for the longest time you've been nothing but cold with me, so what gives?"

She didn't answer him so he pressed on further, placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Stay, don't go."

She turned around to face him, eyes brimming up with tears, but she refused to let them fall. "Why? Why should I stay Bobby?"

"Do you love him, Jubilee?"

"I..well..I," she stammered, still unable to say the words, heck she couldn't even lie and say them to get Bobby off her case.

"AH HA," he exclaimed, perhaps a little too triumphantly, so he brought it down a notch. Well Drake, he thought to himself, you do this now or you lose her forever. "Stay Jubilee," he said running a hand through her hair. "I'm in love with you; I don't want you to go. I want you to stay here, with me."

She looked up at him, the tears beginning to fall. These were the words she had wanted to hear all along weren't they? She loved Bobby Drake. But Damien loved her too, and she couldn't do this to him, not now, not like this. His hand had moved from out of her hair and was cupped over her cheek, and then he kissed her on the forehead. This was too much! She couldn't take it anymore, his words, his touch, if she didn't leave right now, she might never want to.

"I…I have to go no," she whispered. She pulled away from him and went back inside, leaving Bobby Drake alone on the balcony.

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Later that night after the reception had ended, the guests had all gone home, Kitty, Damien, Jubilee, and the honeymoon-bound Ororo and Logan were all on their way to the airport, and one lonely X-men was tossing a tennis ball up and down while laying on his bed.

Well Drake, he thought to himself, you really did it this time. Now she's out of your life forever. He even felt a cold tear slide down his face, and he didn't have the heart to stop it by turning it to ice. Since that one escaped a few others thought they would too until his face was cold and wet from the tears. Out of anger he sat up and threw the tennis ball hard against the wall where it ricocheted and was caught by the person standing in his doorway.

"Geez, Bobby, you're so lucky I caught that. If it had hit me I swear…" she threatened idly and closed the door behind her.

"JUBILEE, what…why…how," oh man his dream girl was standing right here and he couldn't get the words out, not words that made sense together anyway.

She smiled and sat next to him, wiping away the cold tears on his face. "Then she leaned over and kissed him long and passionately. They looked at each other for a few minutes before either of them spoke again. "I couldn't do it Bobby," she said softly. "I need you. I'm in love with you too."

Well that was all he needed to hear, he stood up, picked her up, spun her around where she squealed with excitement, kissed her again, and then asked. "What made you change your mind?"

"You did, I want to be with you, and now that I know you feel the same way for me that I've felt for you, I want to see what happens between us."

She went on to explain how she made it as far as the airport, decided she couldn't leave, explained it to a heartbroken Damien, asked Kitty to watch out for him for her, and took the first cab she could grab back to the Mansion.

"I had to be honest with him, with myself, and with you," she said as she finished her story. "So you want to see where these feelings take us?"

He smiled as he hugged her again, "You bet I do." Then he kissed her again, perhaps to make sure that she was real and he wasn't just dreaming this. But she was real. She was there, she was his, and he was hers. And that's all that really mattered to the two people in that room.

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(1)- Mentioned in Chapter 14.

**Author's Note- **Well, there's the wedding you've all been waiting for! But stay tuned, there's a lot more excitement planned! :-)

**Tammy-** Yeah, I wanted to explain Jessica's hair now so that it wasn't a factor later on. There actually is a guy at my school with a small white patch so that made me think of it. Yeah, David was bulled by Max all year, perhaps nothing major but often enough to make him unhappy.

**Ishandahalf****- **I hear you, every time I read or post I should be doing homework of some sort. Then again if I didn't read or post whenever I had homework then I'd never be on at all! I know, I can never get enough of Gambit and Rogue either, I mean SIGH! They need more of that in Marvel. Hey how about a Gambit and Rogue book instead of keeping them separate! That's a great idea! They should do that! :-)

**Star-of-Chaos-** Hehe, yeah I can just see Bobby picturing Damien on anything that he might be hitting…As you have seen Max isn't going to be very tolerant once he's older, even more so than he is now, the sins of the father…As for the technology you'll have to wait a while to see that, I just wanted to plant the seed and let it grow a while…And a little Cyke, yeah we'll have to wait to see how that is too:-P


	31. Life Goes On A Decade of Change and Stab...

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters nor any of the copyrighted Halloween costumes; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the X-men. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

**Part VII**

Chapter 31: Life Goes On- A Decade of Change and Stability

"Come here Munroe, you can do it," cooed Jubilee beckoning the young child holding onto the edge of a coffee table across the room from her.

"Jubilee, he can barely stand, let alone walk," Bobby told her.

"It's possible, I mean look at him, he wants to try it," she said motioning to the mocha skinned one year old with dark wavy hair and bright blue eyes who was looking over at Jubilee and gurgling.

Bobby shook his head. "Ya know Hun, if Logan and 'Ro find out that the baby walked without them being able to see it, they might kill you, or worse me!"

Jubilee shot him a look, "That's when we just don't tell them. Isn't that right Munroe, we keep it a secret between the three of us, but your Uncle Bobby doesn't seem to get that hint."

Bobby then walked across the room to scoop up the little boy who had since fallen on his diapered bottom, then walked across the room and pulled a delighted Jubilee next to him on the couch. He gave her a kiss and then she proceeded to read a bedtime story to the little boy as he fell asleep in Bobby's lap. Bobby looked at the sleeping child in is arms.

"Kind of makes you want to have one of our own, doesn't it," he said aloud.

Jubilee smiled, "Bobby, I want to enjoy a few years of this marriage without children, then we can talk. Besides, I think for the moment we have a good deal going. We watch Munroe on the nights when Logan and 'Ro need a break and then we give him back in the morning!"

Bobby nodded in agreement with his wife, "You're right dear, besides, I think I'm all the child you can handle at the moment."

She laughed, "You're right, between you and the students, I have enough children on my hands at the moment!"

How did we get here? That's something that Bobby Drake asks himself on a near daily basis. His life for the last decade was something that he only dreamed of in the past. He and Jubilee started dating right after Storm and Wolverine's wedding. Like all couples they had their ups and downs, but overall they enjoyed what they had. Then one day two years ago they decided that they couldn't live without each other and she asked him to marry him, stating that she wasn't going to wait around forever and this time she was going to take matters into her own hands. Bobby of course said yes and they were married a year later. Not long after Bobby and Jubilee's wedding Ororo gave birth to Munroe Logan Howlett. The couple named him Munroe in honor of Ororo's family name, the middle name Logan in honor of his father, and the last name Howlett because legally it was Wolverine's last name and he wanted his son to have a chance at a definite identity that he never had. But Munroe wasn't the only child born in the last decade. About five years ago Jean gave birth to twins, Alexander Scott Summers and Charles Xavier Summers: Alex named for Cyclops and his brother and Charlie named for the Professor. Nathaniel, at first was a little annoyed at the attention the babies received, so use to being an only child for so long, but soon he immersed in the role of protective older brother. Now at 17 he lavished them with all the attention and affection that an older protective brother can give the five year olds.

Of course, he and his friends had changed over this time too. Nathaniel Summers developed his mutant powers at age 14. Like Jessica, his powers were quite strong as a result of having the genetic combination of incredibly powerful mutant parents. He developed the optic blasts like his father, only he lacked the head injury that prevented his father from controlling his powers, so Nathaniel could summon his powers at will. He also had the telepathic and telekinetic powers of his mother, but not her empathic abilities. So he could get into someone's mind or use his mind to levitate objects to himself, but was unable of sensing emotions the way Jean naturally could. Jessica always joked that this was because he was male and there was something innate in the nature of men that prevented them from decoding emotions of other people in the first place.

Jessica's powers had not changed much over the last decade. She still retained the same abilities as well as not being able to cope with so much power at one time. She still had to be mindful of all the power surging through her, least her powers render her unconscious, something that had happened a handful of times over the years. Her skin remained covered much of the time to keep her body heat in. Rogue couldn't help but mentally note that peculiarity between her and her daughter, though Jessica could touch people at will, something Rogue couldn't help but envy, but she was glad her daughter didn't have that part of her curse. As always, David was a willing vessel for her power surges being the fact that he didn't have any of his own powers to contend with. Life hadn't changed much for David over the years. He still attended the same school system with his same close friends and didn't develop any powers. But life was good overall. His sister Carlie had gone off to college to study genetics then switched to political science, hoping to one day take up the torch that their father left behind on the topic of mutant rights.

Bobby silently stood up holding Munroe and walked across the room, placing him in a crib set up especially for his visit. When Bobby and Jubilee married, neither wanted to leave their role as co-director of the dorms at the Xavier Institute, so as a wedding present, the Professor had a few rooms converted into a special living quarters with 2 bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. When Munroe stayed over they placed a crib in the living room so that they could hear him from where ever they were if he made the smallest peep. Once the baby was safely in his crib, Bobby sat next to his wife on the couch and they sat in the peaceful silence holding each other and enjoying the other's company.

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Elsewhere in Westchester County, New York in fact, right down the road, another couple was enjoying the romance and alone time that the peaceful autumn night brought. They walked along the road hand-in-hand laughing and talking, the way most people associate with those young and newly in love. Every now and then he would pull her close to him, lavishing kisses on her face and neck, much to her delight. He'd stare deeply in her green eyes and run his fingers through her white-streaked hair, while muttering sweet nothings in French. It might be hard for some to believe that this couple had been married for nearly twenty years now, and the fire of passion was still burning as strong as it had been from the beginning. Remy LeBeau knew how easily this life could have passed him up. Any number of decisions made in the past could have denied him the happiness that he felt every time he looked at his wife or daughter. He knew that everyday they had together was precious, something that should be enjoyed. Nothing made that more clear than the battles they fought with the X-men during the last decade. No matter how close peace seemed to be, there was always some enemy somewhere that was looking for battle, whether it was Mr. Sinister attempting to exact revenge on Jessica for foiling his plans to capture Nathaniel all those years ago, or his attempts to capture any of the Summers' boys, run-ins with various new factions of rebellious mutants who got a megalomaniac idea in their heads and ran with it, or any of the other countless enemies fought over time. The names and faces were no longer important, the fact that they survived as a team, as a family, was.

During one particular skirmish when the X-men were few in number due to people being sent to fight elsewhere, Nathaniel, Jessica, and even David proved themselves to be worthy reserve X-men team members. It was about six months ago and most of the X-men were sent to deal with a crisis situation in Canada. Very few were left behind at home when a few of those megalomaniac newcomers tried to take over the world and destroy humanity closer to home, sure a fairly normal occurrence in the lives of the X-men, but the bulk of the team was taking care of a similar situation up north! All able and available X-men were called in to help and they were still shorthanded so Nathaniel and Jessica stepped up to the plate to help out. But help was still need so Beast and the Professor were able to join the fray while David took over the command center duties from the Mansion. Once this battle was over, the Professor told them that he would welcome them as reserve members to be called on in emergencies only, since he wanted them to concentrate on school and growing up first. Then he told them that one day he'd present them with uniforms to go with the newly christened codenames they gave themselves in the field. Jessica was christened Wildcard due to the nickname her father gave her at birth and the often random nature of her powers. Nathaniel didn't have any childhood nickname to work with, but everyone always commented on the red blaze that shot from his eyes when he used his powers more so than his telekinetic powers, so Blazer it was for him. David, not having mutant powers, had been nicknamed Hacker by Beast when he learned how to tap into the Mansion's secret files as a child so he took that as his codename.

One group that was growing increasingly irksome, particularly over the past decade was the Friends of Humanity. Whether it was because they were threatening the Williams family because of their connection to the late Senator Williams' mutant rights work or their appeals to Congress for mutant regulation laws or their clandestine activities, the FOH was a thorn in their side that wouldn't go away, and unfortunately would have to be faced head on at some point. It was just a matter of when.

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Jessica and David sat on the floor of the living room of the LeBeau's house, flipping through store ads for the perfect Halloween costume. The Xavier Institute was having a Halloween costume party in a week and even though they weren't students at the school, they were invited every year because of their connection with the X-men. After school today Nathaniel promised to show them his wonderful costume. He carried the bag containing his costume into the bathroom and changed leaving his friends to think of costume ideas of their own.

"So what do you think you're going to be, David," inquired Jessica looking up from another rejected advert.

"Honestly, I don't have a single idea. Maybe something traditional, like a pirate," David said.

"Yeah, I hear ya, maybe I'll be a witch or something like that," she replied. Before she could say anything else they were interrupted by a voice that said, "Alright Team, Danger Room session in three minutes."

They looked up to see Cyclops standing in the doorway of the living room wearing one of his older blue uniforms with yellow trim. After a second glance they noticed that this Cyclops had a shock of red hair instead of the brown hair the Scott Summers they all knew had.

"Oh my…NATEY! You look fantastic," Jessica exclaimed.

"I..I can't believe how much you look like your father in that," David chimed in.

Nathaniel grinned, "Yeah, I asked Mom for a great idea for Halloween and she told me I could use Dad's old uniforms if I wanted. There's this one picture of Dad in action taken by a Danger Room cam that I've always loved and he was wearing this uniform, so I figured I'd give it a shot."

"That gives me an idea for Halloween! Wait right here Natey, come on David," she said pulling a puzzled David upstairs.

Once in her parents' room, Jessica started to go through her parents' closet.

"Um, what are we doing in here," David asked.

"Natey's not the only one who can be one of his parents for Halloween," she stated while pulling out some articles of clothing.

"No offense, Jess," he said leaning up against a bedpost, "But I don't want to be my Mom for Halloween, and as for my Dad, everyone already says I look like he did so where's the fun in that? Unlike you guys I don't have superhero parents to dress up as."

"No problem," she said, "You can have one of mine." She deposited a handful of clothing onto the bed. David picked up one of Rogue's uniform jumpsuits and held it up against his body.

"Great idea, I think I'd look fantastic as your mother," he smirked and switched to a false feminine voice, "Whatta think of that Shugah?"

Jessica burst out laughing, "Oh man, that's truly scary! I'm going to have nightmares! Your accent needs work too." She grabbed the jumpsuit from him and held it against her body, "There! Now don't y'all think Ah make a better Southern Belle?"

This time it was David's turn to laugh. "Sorry my Jessie-Rose, you're too much of a Northerner to pull off that accent."

They both laughed and she handed him a pile of clothing, "Here go into the bathroom and try these on, I'll meet you in the hallway when your dressed." David took the clothes and headed to the bathroom down the hall while Jessica took her own pile and went into her bedroom to change.

Meanwhile Nathaniel waited for his friends to come downstairs. He sat flipping through a TV Guide until he heard the front door open. He stood up and was greeted by Remy and Rogue who had to do a double take when they saw him.

"Nathaniel, Shugah, is that you," Rogue gasped.

"Yeah Aunt Rogue, I was trying on my Halloween costume to show David and Jessica. What do you think of it?"

"I t'ink you picked a truly a scary Halloween costume t'frighten _les enfants_ wit'," Remy muttered under his breath resulting in an elbow jab from an amused Rogue.

"So where are David and Jessica," Rogue asked.

"Right here Momma," said a voice at the top of the staircase. Jessica was the perfect carbon copy of Rogue in the uniform she chose from the same time period as Natey's choice. It was also her mother's favorite, which aided in the choice. She wore a yellow and green jumpsuit with a brown fighter jacket over it and her hair pushed back with a black headband. David stood next to her wearing one of Remy's old magenta, blue and black body suits, a spare pair of black gloves with some of the fingers missing, and a black headpiece that allowed his hair and face to peak out. The hair color was of course wrong and he wore his glasses due to the fact he was blind without them, but never the less he still made a fairly convincing Gambit in spirit. They walked down the stairs and joined the LeBeaus and Natey.

Rogue couldn't help but gasp in surprise. If Jessica had been wearing the green jumpsuit that was Rogue's first uniform, she could have been Rogue at that age. Everyone always commented on how much the mother and daughter looked alike, but it was never as evident to Rogue as it was that very moment.

"_Mon Dieu_," the original Gambit exclaimed as they stood in front of them. "You look _merveilleux_! But David, somet'ing's missing." He took off his trench coat, put it on his imposter, and stood back. "Dere! Dat's much better! Don't worry, I have a spare trenchcoat you can use for Halloween itself."

The all looked at each other and laughed, the next generation was already making its place in the world known loud and clear.

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A week later Mr. and Mrs. Drake were getting ready for the Xavier Institute costume party. Jubilee sat in front of the mirror making sure her hair was perfect under the cone-shaped princess hat. She wanted to go with Bobby as Romeo and Juliet but he wanted to go as April O'Neil and one of the Ninja Turtles. So as any newly married couple, they had a disagreement and then made a compromise: Jubilee would go as Juliet and Bobby would go as his Turtle of choice.

"Bobby," she called out to her husband changing in the other room, "Did I tell you I got an email from Kitty today?"

"Babe, you get an email from Kitty everyday," he called back

"Ok, well yeah, but this one's different."

"How's that," he asked calling through the closed door.

"She said that she and Damien are having a baby!"

"Wow," he said adjusting his turtle mask and shell, "That's great; remind me to congratulate them later."

Bobby smiled to himself and not just because he was dressed as one of his favorite cartoon characters either. Funny, you'd think that Damien would hate his guts after Jubilee left him to be with Bobby. Nothing could be further from the truth. Damien was hurt of course by Jubilee's decision to leave him, but living in Chicago gave him time to get to know Kitty Pryde. He now considers his relationship with Jubilee a blessing in disguise as a way of him meeting his Kitty. If Jubilee hadn't left him, he wouldn't have fallen in love with and ultimately married Kitty. So no hard feelings were harbored by anybody, much to the relief of everyone involved and they all were a pretty close group now. Strange, yes; unlikely, perhaps; but in this case, it was true.

Jubilee was getting out of her chair when Bobby burst into the room shouting "Turtle Power!" Jubilee smiled at him and shook her head while smiling.

"Very nice Dear, you make a wonderful Michelangelo," she said.

Bobby lifted the plastic mask off his face and looked at her with shock and dismay, "Well we obviously haven't been married long enough, I'm Rafael, not Michelangelo. See the red bandana on the mask? Besides if I was Michelangelo, I would have made a point to shout out 'COWABUNGA!' You have so much to learn," he finished while pulling her in for a kiss.

When they finished, Bobby put the mask back on, and they headed over from the dorm building to the Mansion ballroom for the party.

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Halloween was always one of the favorite holidays for the members of the X-men. In fact, Halloween was loved by most mutants for the fact that they could walk around fairly undetected. In a sense it was both freeing and depressing to have one day a year in which all mutants could truly be themselves without fear. It was freeing because they had this chance, but depressing because it could only be one day a year. Mutants, and some humans, of all ages gathered in the festive large ballroom at the Mansion on 1407 Graymalkin Lane. Some wore simple costumes while others had more elaborate grab, but everyone was having a wonderful time in an environment where they knew they had nothing to fear.

Nathaniel, Jessica, and David, dressed as their selected X-men, took turns dancing with each other and other students their own age. Kurt Wagner, dressed as a swashbuckling pirate, entertained a number of the younger children so that their parents could have some free time to themselves. Among those children were the brown haired, blue eyed Summers twins dressed as identical cowboys and little Munroe Howlett in a baby's pumpkin costume. Remy and Rogue, as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara, glided gracefully across the dance floor; their costumes were the same ones used nearly every year but they made a stunning couple nevertheless. Jubilee as Juliet and Bobby as Rafael made sure that their students stayed out of trouble and danced when they could. Cyclops dressed as a police office, Jean as a devil and Monica Williams as an angel sat talking about this and that. Even Ororo dressed as a princess spent time on the dance floor with her husband who was dressed one of his regular flannel shirts and jeans. When students asked what he was suppose to be he grumbled that he was a lumberjack. He refused to dress up, but his wife told him to at least be creative with an answer, most years he never attended but he wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Even the Professor and Hank McCoy got into the spirit of things. The Professor was decked out as a warlock and Hank was Hamlet, though some students though he was just some crazy killer walking around with a skull. When they said that, he insisted that they take Mr. LeBeau's literature class the following year.

Somehow everyone managed to get swept up into the spirit and magic of the night. Children and adults alike laughed, danced, and wished the night would never end. If everyone in the world was having this much fun and getting along, then they'd have nothing to fear anymore. Times like this made peace seem so close.

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But peace might not be so close when others are preoccupied with more tricks than treat on Halloween. That same night, Jackson Porter was attending an annual meeting of the leaders of various chapters of the FOH, held in Washington DC. So much had been done in recent years in terms of identifying mutants in public schools. The scanning technology had advanced tremendously, any mutant with a weak to moderately powered X-gene was detected by scans, much to their delight. Although they still were certain they weren't catching the most powerful, and dangerous, mutants, they were successfully weeding out many others. Although they couldn't have mutants removed from the schools, something about them having the right to a free and public education extended to them as well, members of the Youth FOH had been particularly instrumental in convincing these mutants to go elsewhere.

The moderator of the meeting announced to the crowd before him the usual agenda of what chapters were particularly noteworthy in furthering their cause this particular year. Then he announced news that was particularly exciting to those in attendance. FOH scientists, who have been working diligently for decades on identifying, locating, and destroying the X-gene, had finally done it. They had identified and located the X-gene years ago, and had been working on a way to destroy it in active mutants. But they had gone one step further; they could destroy the X-gene in humans who carried the X-gene. With this knowledge, they could finally rid the world of the mutant problem. A roar of celebration went throughout the room and it took nearly fifteen minutes before the moderator could speak again. When he did the news he told was of the gravest importance. He said that they had to decide if they should use this technology in a device that has been set up for it in a facility in upstate New York. Normally they would use technology against mutants without a second thought, but this required a major commitment. The device could not just destroy the gene, since the gene was connected so strongly to others in the DNA, the individual itself would have to be obliterated as well. This could affect the individuals in that room if they happened to be unfortunate enough to carry the X-gene somewhere in their DNA. But it didn't take the room long to decide, they'd rather die then pass on the gene to future generations. If they could stop mutants once and for all, they would, even if it meant giving their lives in the process. Jackson Porter sat grinning with the others around him. All their work, all their time and effort to make the world a safe place was coming to a head. It would only be a short amount of time now, 2 years at most and maybe as soon as six months. But once the device in the Upstate New York facility was up and running, the world would be rid of the mutant problem permanently.

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**Author's Note- **Oh man, you wouldn't believe all the stuff I have going on now! As you can tell by the content, I had planned to get this up before Halloween. I'm sorry this chapter took so long to post, but you know how it is! I have had the end of the story ready to go; I just need to fill in a few plot holes so I need to write a couple more chapters before that because this story took a slightly different turn than I originally anticipated when I wrote it (It was only 10 chapters or so at first, oops!). For instance, I originally had a chapter dealing with Rogue's origins, but since that is currently being revealed in her limited series, I felt it best to cut it and rework, but we'll see how it goes. Oh and the uniforms the kids wore for Halloween are the 90s era ones, in case you were wondering ;-)

**giveGodtheglory****-** Hehe, glad Logan and Ororo's wedding made you do a happy dance :-P

**Star-of-Chaos-** Gee, how'd you know Kitty was going to be there for Damien, guess you knew I didn't want to leave him lonely. As for everything else, you'll have to wait and see ;-)

**Tammy- **Seriously though, if they put out a Gambit and Rogue book, I'd totally buy it and make everyone I know buy it just cause it would be awesome. You're right though, it would make them develop more as characters with the way they always play off each other. As for Bobby and Jubilee, I'm glad you like them in this setting :-)

**Ishandahalf****-** So glad you enjoyed those moments in the last chapter. So you don't think Nathaniel has a chance? Well we'll just have to wait and see what happens there, maybe you are right and maybe you aren't and that's all I'll say on that for now. As for your midterms, I hope everything went alright on those! :-)

**Quing****-** Aww, don't feel too bad for Damien, things worked well for everyone in the Damien, Kitty, and Bobby love triangle. :-)

**Kizmet- **Oh wow, thank you so much for your very kind words! Most of the story is already written or at least outlined, it's just a matter of fixing it up until I'm happy with it (I'm my own worst critic), but I hope you enjoy a few of the moments between the LeBeau family that will be dispersed throughout the rest of this story! As for angst, I'm all for a good angsty story, they're always fun, but in this case, I didn't think it would work out, so I'm glad you like it. :-)

**Liliput83-** Again, another person who noticed Kitty being there for Bobby before it was every stated! Damien was too nice to leave all alone! :-)

**Bibliothecaire****- **Thanks for your concern, I'm just so swamped with work that I haven't had a chance to tweak the chapters left in this story, I'm going to try to be better but it's been a rough semester. I hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter to make up for my negligence.


	32. It's in the Cards

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the X-men, nor any of the copyrighted Halloween costumes. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter 32: It's in the Cards

Remy LeBeau sat at his kitchen table one lazy Sunday night in early December. He had already graded his students' papers and decided that it was too much effort to create his next batch of lesson plans for Xavier to approve. So instead he played Solitaire. It didn't matter how many times he played it, even if he won more than half the time, it still had this wonderful calming effect on him. Sometimes he'd play a game between classes and students would come in and ask if he'd ever get sick of it. He would just shoot them his most charming smile and say "Do you ever get sick of comin' to my class?" Naturally none of them could say no, especially when he applied a little charm. He was so engrossed with his game that he didn't hear footsteps in the room until the voice associated with those steps spoke to him.

"Care for a little company Poppa?"

Remy looked up at his daughter and smiled. "Sure _mon__ petite_ Wildcard." She was in the process of sitting down across from him when he said "Wait a minute, did you finish your homework.?"

She smiled and rolled her eyes, "_Oui_Poppa." With one parent as a teacher she could never get away with anything school related. Then she inquired him challengingly, "Did you?"

Remy chuckled, "Fair enough den." He swept up the game he was playing and handed the deck over to her. She began to shuffle with the expertise that he trained her with. At this point Rogue had made her way to the kitchen and was watching the scene from the door way.

"Poker Poppa?"

"Naturally!"

Rogue couldn't help but smile to herself and recall the first time the two played Poker together. Remy had been reading the newspaper and Jessica, then eight years old, approached him with a deck of cards.

"Poppa, will you play cards with me," she asked him with that tone that Remy could never say no to.

At that point in time Remy had taught her to play 'Go Fish,' 'War,' and 'Old Maid.' So when he asked her what she wanted to play she smiled and said "Poker Poppa!"

He looked at her questioningly and said "But you don know how t'play." But she insisted that she did. So to humor her, Remy dealt the cards and played along with her ruse, assuming that she knew the lingo from watching his games with the guys that occurred so frequently in their house. But he never thought she seriously knew how to play, so he was caught completely off guard when he showed a pair of 7s and she had a full house. Completely shocked he asked her how she did that.

"Grand-Pere taught me last week how to play. I asked him to play cards with me and he said that the games you taught me weren't real cards. So he taught me Poker and Blackjack and some other stuff," she said very pleased with herself. While she spoke she made poor attempts to shuffle the deck.

Jean-Luc had spent a few weeks in New York visiting the family, a change from their annual visits down South. In fact he had only left yesterday. Remy would have to 'thank' his father for teaching his daughter these things during his visit. He was a little hurt because he wanted to be the one to teach her, but he knew that there would be certain things in life she'd have to learn from other people and certain things she'd have to learn on her own. That in itself was a great life lesson for Remy, and Rogue too when he shared these thoughts with her later.

Remy smiled at the child in front of him who had now made a mess of the cards that she had tried to shuffle, "Oh he did, did he? Well he certainly didn't teach you how to shuffle properly." With that he summoned her onto his lap and instructed her on the finer points of shuffling. After that Remy never let his guard down with his crafty daughter, card games or otherwise. Sometimes she'd win, but most of the time Remy was the victorious one. Although now that she was getting older, someday he'd have to realize that she would eventually surpass him. And that was the greatest joy for a parent, to watch their child succeed at something.

Rogue smiled at the memory and then looked lovingly at her family who were still unaware of her presence. She walked over to them and asked if she could join their game. They both looked up at her with the same patented LeBeau smirk on their faces.

"Well sure Chere, if you feel like losing."

"Yeah Momma, you know you never beat us at this."

"Well, just because ya both have that LeBeau luck in ya doesn't mean Ah'm going to give up without a fight!"

And for the rest of the evening they laughed, played, and talked together. Both Remy and Rogue were secretly glad for moments like this. It's never easy to get a teenager to spend some time with their parents. And if Jessica was willingly spending some time with them, then they were grateful for every moment they got with her. After all, someday she'd be off on her own, and since time tends to move so fast, that day could be here before they knew it.

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The next day at school Jessica and some of the girls she was friends with noticed a poster for the Winter Ball that Friday night; the most formal event next to the prom and unlike the public school prom, this one was open to all grade levels. The only other difference is that the Winter Dance was held in the gym while the prom was held at a fancy restaurant. Jessica always preferred the dances at the Xavier Institute, though, since they were open to everyone and she felt more comfortable in the atmosphere but that didn't stop her from attending functions at her own school. Every time there was a school function, especially a dance, Nathaniel, Jessica, and David attended together, sometimes with other friends too, but always the three of them together. For students who didn't know their connection with each other they seemed like an unlikely pair of friends. With his tuft of red hair and those intense blue eyes, Nathaniel looked every inch the football player that he was and at 6 feet 3 inches, the same height as his father. The average classmate would rave about Nathaniel's popularity, girls want to be with him and guys want to be him. With his blonde hair, deep brown eyes framed with glasses, and standing at 5 feet 10 inches, David was considered slightly computer geeky, a nice guy but his classmates really didn't know much more than that about him since he's so quiet. The fact he has his father's legacy to contend with didn't help either. With her white streaked brown hair and electric green eyes, Jessica was considered by most as the girl next door type. At 5 feet 4 inches she was much shorter than her parents and most of the X-men. Only Wolverine was stood an inch shorter than she did, and he would make her feel better reminding her that sometimes the greatest mutants came in small packages. Her average classmate would say she's fairly smart, cute but not drop dead gorgeous, and in the middle of the popularity scale she didn't have a specific clique, rather she hung out with people from all groups. But the three of them seems like an unlikely sort and they wouldn't have it any other way.

"So Jessica," a bouncy blonde named Cindy asked, "Are you thinking of going to the Winter Ball?"

"Sure, I bet David, Nathaniel, and I will go. I mean none of us have ever been to the Winter Ball before."

"What? No you obviously have never gone," said a brunette named Jane. "It's only THE most romantic dance of the year, even more so than prom! It's not the type of thing you go to with a group." She then got this goofy grin on her face as she said, "It's a night where love completely takes over every piece of your being: heart, soul,.."

"Gag reflex," Cindy interjected sending Jessica into a fit of laughter.

Jane smacked her friends in the arms. "I'm serious you guys." Before she could say anymore the bell rang signaling that they should be getting to first period. "Ok Jessica, seriously though, just think about what I said. If you play your cards right you'll wind up with your dream guy on the night of Winter Ball." With that she and Cindy ducked into their math class while Jessica headed down the hall to English.

Play my cards right, thought Jessica. Well I am a LeBeau, I do know a thing or two about cards. As she sat down at her desk she got out a piece of paper and began scribbling a note to what Jane would refer to as her dream guy.

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Meanwhile, down at the other end of the school Nathaniel and David were walking around the track for gym class. It was an unusually warm December morning and their teacher wanted to take advantage of it.

"Well, it's officially started," Nathaniel said to David.

"What has?"

"Girls getting all goofy about the Winter Ball. I walk down the hall today, and they point to the posters, look at me, and giggle."

"Confident aren't we," David said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well I am one prime, grade A, piece of mutant beef," Nathaniel said while making an exaggerated motion of making a muscle.

"More like bologna," David retorted causing them both to laugh. This was the way they interacted all the time. They would exaggerate the way the world saw them and laugh about it. Any conversations David, Nathaniel, and Jessica would have together were always laced with silliness and dripping with sarcasm. They silently walked the track for a few minutes when Nathaniel spoke up.

"You're thinking about her again aren't you," Nathaniel said causing David to turn a deep shade of red.

"What…um… no, I'm not," he flustered.

"Dude, you totally are. I might not have Mom's empathic abilities but it's so freakin' obvious! Just tell her you like her or I'll do it for you! Maybe that's why you told me you like her, so that I'd tell her for you!"

"No way," David exclaimed smacking Nathaniel in the arm. "Besides I can't tell her. What happens if we did start going out and things didn't work out."

"They will work out trust me."

"What, have you added psychic abilities to your repertoire now Natey?"

"I might have because I just know you and Jess are meant for each other." David gave him a look and Nathaniel continued: "Look, just ask her to the Winter Ball then, one step at a time. And while you do that, I'm going to go start narrowing my list down." With that he took off running down the track leaping over a set of hurdles that were idly on the side of the track, which happened to be situated near a group of cute girls from their class.

David walked along alone. One step at a time, he thought. Well, I guess one date couldn't hurt.

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Jessica held the note in her hand debating whether to slip it in his locker or not. She could just tell him in person how she felt but that would be too awkward, after all, they had known each other all their lives and this was something that she had been hiding from him for years now. After all this time, how could she tell him face to face that she had these feelings for him, that every time she saw him her heart skipped a beat, that she thought he was the most handsome guy to walk the face of the Earth? Well this is it, she thought to herself. Do it now or not at all. She was so intent on her plan that when the warning bell sounded for her to get to her next class she jumped, looked side to side, and became flustered and quickly shoved the note into the vent of the locker.

Nathaniel was walking towards his locker at that moment and paused when he saw Jessica looking his way, became flustered, slip something into his locker and run off. She always left notes for him or David; it's what she did since she didn't have a single class with either of them this year, unlike the other two years of high school. So she kept them updated on her day by slipping notes into their lockers. Once she had left he opened his locker, shoved his gym clothes in, pulled out the note, and was completely shocked by the content. Jessica liked him?! But how, this can't be right. But there it was all in black and white, well blue and white since the pen was blue. Normally her notes to him started with something like "Hey Natey-Nat," or "Dear God's Gift to Women," or something else sarcastic or silly. But this time she just launched right into the content of the note itself describing how she's felt like this for a long time but she's afraid to say anything since they've known each other all their lives and everything. Then at the end she said maybe he'd consider going to the Winter Ball with her at the end of the week.

"Hey Jess, wait up," Nathaniel called from down the hall. But she was already too far out of earshot. Well this wasn't going to be pretty. Jessica liked him, David like Jessica, and Natey was stuck in the middle. I'm starting to get a migraine, he thought to himself.

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After school that day Nathaniel made a point to talk to David. Jessica was staying after to work on her article for the school paper and Nathaniel knew he and David would be walking home alone. David was the only one of them who had a car, but his sister was home for the week and decided to borrow it. It was just as well that they had to walk since Nathaniel needed to talk to him and the walk would give them amble time to do it.

"So you're being awful quiet," David noted to Nathaniel. "That's my department you know, you're suppose to be the talkative one."

"David, I can't think of how to say this. Here, read this, I found it in my locker today."

David took the note from Nathaniel and read the content, his eyes saddened as he read it. "Oh...," was all he said.

"Look man, I'm so sorry, it's not supposed to be this way…," Nathaniel started to say but was cut off by David.

"No, no, it's alright, I just want her to be happy that's all. I'm still her best friend after all. I just wish she had told me that she felt like this about you."

"I'm so sorry; I don't know what to do."

"I'll tell you what you are going to do," David said intensely, it almost sounded like he would hunt him down and beat him if he didn't do what he said, "Make her happy and go to the dance with her."

"You sure? I mean…"

David interrupted again, "Yes, look Natey, she chose you. I mean I'm not saying that you have to like her back but she obviously doesn't feel the same way about me as I do about her. Take her to the dance and let her down gently if that's what you are going to do." He looked up at his friend with that same intense look again. "Just don't hurt her."

The walked home the rest of the way in silence.

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The next evening Jessica sat on the floor of her living room, books spread out for homework, but she sat with her back against the couch staring up at the ceiling. She was so entranced in thought that she didn't even notice her mother sat down on the couch above her. Rogue leaned over face to face with her daughter.

"Penny for yoah thoughts, Shugah?"

Jessica turned around to face her mother, "Momma, I don't know what to do. You see there's this guy I like and I've really liked him for a long time. So I decided to tell him."

"Oh," said Rogue quite intrigued. "And what did he say back?"

"Nothing, I wrote it in a note yesterday but he hasn't said anything to me yet."

Rogue patted the couch next to her beckoning her daughter to sit on the couch next to her. Jessica obliged. Things use to be so simple, she'd fall down and Rogue would kiss the boo-boo better, she'd have trouble sleeping and Rogue would sing her a lullaby. But now that's she's a junior in high school, things weren't going to be solved so easily. In fact, Rogue knew that she wasn't the one who would be able to help her. She could guide her, but Jessica would have to solve this one on her own.

"So why didn't ya just tell David face to face, then ya'd have known one way or the othah."

Jessica looked at her mother, a look of shock spread over her face. "Momma, I never told anyone that I liked David. How'd you know?!"

Rogue smiled and took her daughter into her arms the way she did when she was a little girl, her head laid on her shoulder and she held her tight. "Let's just call it mothah's intuition. Ah see the way ya look at him, the way ya act around him." She pushed a lock of hair out of Jessica's face, "Ya want to be with him so badly, but ya're afraid that something will go wrong and ya'll lose him forevah."

Jessica pulled away from Rogue and sat up facing her. "How did you know that," she whispered.

Rogue smiled and said softly, "Because that's how Ah felt about yoah Poppa. Just remember, baby girl, things might not work out the way ya planned, but in the end, they always work out somehow. Even if it doesn't seem like it's goin' the way it should, just know that somehow it'll be OK. Life might take a different path than ya expected but you'll get to where ya should be eventually."

"Thanks Momma, I'm glad we talked." Jessica rested her head back on her mother's shoulder and Rogue wrapped her arms around her again.

"Of course Shugah. Any time, you know that."

They sat in silence for a moment before Jessica spoke again, "You know, there's more to it then that." She proceeded to tell her mother about how Nathaniel asked her to the dance today and she said yes because she didn't want to hurt his feelings. She also talked about how David hadn't mentioned the note to her and how seemed to be avoiding her. He never seemed to be home when she called or stopped by, and she never seemed to find him at school.

When she finished she had tears in her eyes and she asked Rogue, "So you still think it's going to work out some how Momma?"

Rogue squeezed her tight, "Somehow it always does baby girl, somehow it always does.

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The rest of the week went on fairly uneventfully. Jessica didn't see much of Nathaniel or David that week with various activities they all had going on. Actually she didn't see David at all, except in passing in the hallway, and she was sure he was purposely avoiding her. Instead of being sad, it just made her angry and she decided that if he wasn't going to talk about the note with her, even if he didn't feel the same way about her, then she wasn't going to let that stop her from having a good time at the Winter Ball. Rogue had taken her shopping on Wednesday for a new dress to wear and was helping Jessica fix her hair up. Rogue had to smile, Jessica never did anything with her long hair; she would just pull it back half the time or just let it hang down. She would tell Rogue that if she had wavy hair like hers then maybe she'd do something with it, but she had poker straight hair. Even Remy's hair had more of a wave to it than hers did. No one knew where she got it from.

"There," Rogue said as she took a look at her final product. "Ya look lovely Jessica, let's go show your Poppa before Natey gets here. He's been waitin' down there with the camera since he got home from school."

Jessica giggled, "I know, I saw him and I said 'Poppa, why are you getting the camera out now?' and he just smiled and said nothing."

"Well then, let's not keep him waiting," Rogue said. Before heading downstairs, they took a few pictures of their own with two disposable cameras, one for Jessica to take with her to the dance and the other Rogue wouldn't mention why. When they finished their photography, Rogue then made her way downstairs with Jessica not far behind her.

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Remy sat on the couch in the living room waiting for his ladies to come downstairs. He heard footsteps and got up from his seat. He saw Rogue first and she said that Jessica looked lovely, so he got the camera ready to take a picture of his little girl coming down those stairs. And then the figure who came to the stairs wasn't his little girl. She was a grown woman. She wore a long flowing light blue slip dress with a light shawl and a pair of Rogue's elegant gloves tucked in her purse in case she got cold.

"_Mon Dieu_," Remy murmured, completely forgetting to take a picture.

"So what do you think Poppa," Jessica asked with a little twirl, the way her mother always did when she dressed up.

Before he could answer a car honked outside, Nathaniel and his friends had already appeared in the driveway and were ready to go. Jessica kissed her parents good-bye and headed out the door.

Once they had driven off and Rogue and closed the door she turned to her husband and said, "Well Remy, ya never answered her question. Why did ya think?"

"I t'ink my lil' Wildcard is all grown up Chere. When did dat happen?"

Rogue smiled knowing what he meant, "Ah think it happened when we weren't lookin'"

Then Remy cursed in French at a sudden realization, "I never took a picture of her!"

"S'ok, Ah was prepared for the situation." She pulled a disposable camera out of her pocket. "We took some pictures before coming downstairs."

A smile broke out on Remy's face, "Did Remy ever tell you dat he love t'way your mind works?" Then he pulled her in for a kiss.

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Jessica and Nathaniel shone on the dance floor, perhaps because they were the only kids their own age who were forced to learn how to dance when they were younger. When one grew up in an environment where formal events were plentiful at Xavier's Mansion, then one had to learn all the right moves. So they could waltz, salsa, or as the case may be at a high school dance, perfectly execute all the latest dance moves. They had been dancing so hard that they welcomed the chance to change speeds with a slow song.

"Oh man, Natey, I'm having a great time," Jessica said breathlessly.

"I'm glad," he smiled back at her. He couldn't catch himself before he said, "Too bad David didn't come."

A little taken back by his words she said, "You know how he hates to dance. Every time I dance with him, I'm the one leading!"

"Yeah but you know you love it."

"Yeah," she said.

After a few moments of silence, he said, "Jessica, we need to talk."

"About what?"

"Well… I mean…we've known each other all our lives, and well I got your note and I…"

"Wait a second, hold on! YOU got my note," she exclaimed with surprise.

"Um yeah?"

She stopped dancing and Nathaniel led her off the dance floor and into the empty hallway. "What is it Jess?"

"Natey, I don't know how to say this, but that note wasn't for you. I… I got mixed up when the bell rang and I must have mistakenly put it in your locker instead…"

"Instead of David's whose locker is right next to mine, right," Nathaniel said finishing her thought.

"YES," she exclaimed with sudden realization.

Nathaniel started to put the pieces out for her, "The only reason I asked you to the dance was because of that silly note!"

Glad that he wasn't interested in her she couldn't help but feign surprise, "You mean you aren't interested in me?"

Nathaniel laughed and said, "No offense Jess, but you aren't my type."

"Well!" she exclaimed in mock huff.

"Seriously Jessica, you're like a sister to me, but I know how David feels about you."

"Wait, you know what?"

"Ooops, I've said too much already." He put his arms on her shoulders. "You have to go talk to him. Then maybe we can resume our lives as normal."

"You don't mind me leaving you here all alone," she asked before breaking into a smile, "Oh wait that's right I forgot, I'm speaking to Nathaniel Rowan Summers, lady's man."

"Yes that's true," he said with a smirk before returning to a serious tone that made him sound an awful lot like his father. "But you are wasting time, GO," he exclaimed. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. Then she took a quick look around to make sure no one was coming before flying down the hallway, out the door, and presumably to David's house.

Nathaniel shook his head, smiled, and felt that for the first time all week that things were going to be all right.

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Jessica landed in David's backyard ready to head to the front and knock on his door, but she noticed that the light wasn't on in his room. Then she heard movement in the clubhouse and something just told her that's where she needed to be.

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That Friday night David sat alone in his club house. Funny, after all these years it still was able to accommodate him and his friends comfortably, not that they used it much, but when they had to get away from the world, they'd drop by their childhood haunt. David did come here more often than his friends did; he used it as a place to think. This time he came by to think, think about how he let her get away. He didn't want Nathaniel to take her to the dance, but it was what she wanted, and he loved her enough to let her go. He would do anything for her, he always had and he always will. Even if she didn't feel the same way he did it wouldn't stop him from loving her. He couldn't help it; there was just something about her. In fact he was so wrapped up in thinking about her that he didn't realize she was actually standing in front of him. And she looked absolutely radiant in her flowing formal dress and her hair done up on top of her head. It made him feel rather underdressed in his cargo pants and jacket over a sweat shirt.

"Jessica, what are you doing here?"

"Maybe I should ask you what are you doing here?"

"Don't you have a dance to be at?"

"Don't you have something better to do than sit in our clubhouse alone?"

"Is there a reason we are only speaking in questions tonight?"

They laughed an uncomfortable laugh. Jessica rubbed her hands together, in her haste she forgot her gloves and shawl and for someone whose mutant powers have a side effect that cause her to lose body heat, that wasn't a smart move, especially in December. Knowing the way only a best friend could David walked over to her, took his own jacket off, and threw it around her shoulders. Then he took her hands into his own and began to rub them.

"You're freezing," he said when they spoke again.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," she retorted jokingly.

As hard as it was he looked into her eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"You know the note that Natey got from me?"

Crushed by the feelings that note brought up from him he choked out, "Yeah, I saw it, he showed it to me." He let go of her hands and turned away from her.

"Guess it was stupid of me not to put your name on it."

Confused he asked, "What are you talking about?"

"There was a mix up, it wasn't mean for Natey, it was meant for you."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing, maybe he was dreaming, yeah that's it and soon he'd wake up and be heartbroken again. He turned to look at her and she was still there, looking right at him.

"Natey's handsome and popular, and well, I'm just me. David Williams, normal human, no super powers. What have I got to offer you?"

"_Merde_David, you know that doesn't matter to me," she exclaimed exasperatedly. Then she softned her tone again and looked up into his deep brown, glasses framed eyes. "David, I've known you all my life, and at point, I don't even remember when, but I fell in love with you. And I guess you confided in Natey a little secret that you've been harboring for quite a while because he let it slip a little this evening, but something tells me that maybe you feel the same way about me?

He took her hands again, "Jessica, I just wanted you to be happy, that's why I told Natey to take you to the Winter Ball."

She smiled up at him, "You've always looked out for me, for as along as I can remember."

He smiled, the kind of smile that lit up his whole face and made Jessica fall in love with him all over again, "That's because you're my Jessie-Rose. I'd do anything for you. I just want you to be happy."

"Well you know what would make me happy?"

"What?"

She smiled and said, "Being with you."

He pulled her close for a hug, not wanting to let go or find out this was all just a dream. If it was a dream, he never wanted to wake up. Then he pulled back a little and lifted her lips up to his, the first kiss for both of them, one of many that would come in the future. For the rest of the evening they sat in the clubhouse, saying all the things that needed to be said, getting everything out in the open. Jessica couldn't help but smile to herself. Momma was right; things always did have a way of working out in the end. As Momma had put it "Life might take a different path than ya expected but you'll get to where ya should be eventually." How true that was!

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**Author's Note- **So I should have been doing all these reading and all these papers today, but well, oops. I've had this chapter sitting around, partially unfinished, but I got inspired and had to get it out to you right away! Some of you expressed sadness about this story coming to an end, FEAR NOT! You'll know when it's the end and this isn't it, not yet anyway, there are still a few more pieces to put into the puzzle.

**Ishandahalf****-** Glad you enjoyed the events of the last chapter. Remy and Rogue in love is definitely great to see, hear, read, whatever, it's just great, I don't care where I just want it! :-D As for the device the FOH has created, well, we'll just have to wait on that one ;-) Perhaps the kid's costumes were a little bit of a hint to this chapter? I'm so obvious and cheesy sometimes, it's amazing people still read this! :-P

**Quing****-** Yeah, I wanted Damien to find some happiness too and well Kitty just came to mind…Glad you liked everyone's costumes, and the Bobby Ninja Turtle part was fun to write :-)

**Enigmagirl2727- **I'm glad the time gap worked out ok, I was afraid to do it but I didn't want to bore everyone with a decade of minor events because I wanted to get to the next part of the story. As for a spin-off, I'm not sure about that but I do want to write other stories, I have some ideas floating around in my head and partially on paper :-)

**Tammy- **I think that if Munroe walked for the Drakes then Bobby and Jubilee would feel the wrath of Storm and Wolverine :-P No I think they'd be happy that their baby boy is walking. Oddly enough I wrote that part originally with Jessica and Nathaniel in mind as babysitters in the Mansion, but something with Bobby and Jubilee just seemed better and it grew from there :-)

**Alex L- **I'm so glad that you enjoyed the part with Bobby and Jubilee :-)

**GiveGodtheglory****-** Glad that you like Munroe's Halloween costume :-)

**Bibliothecaire****-** I'm glad you enjoyed the previous chapter. I don't know about a sequel, I mean you never know, but I don't see it at the present time since I have other stories I'd love to tell. I talk of ending this story, but I keep coming up with ideas while filling in plot holes so you'll definitely get a few more chapters out of me still :-)


	33. Facing Fears

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Note: I apologize for the spacing and random indents and anything of the sort. When the pages are loaded onto this site everything seems to get a bit messed up. I noticed that single lines get double spaced randomly. Sorry about that.

Through the Years

Chapter 33: Facing Fears

When David and Jessica told their families about their relationship, they couldn't help but notice that no one seemed to be surprised. It was as if everyone saw it coming but them. David joked that having a number of psychics and people from the future coming in and out of the Mansion on a day to day basis probably softened the blow for everyone else. Nathaniel pointed out that not much had changed anyway, they always seemed to have a thing for each other and now it was just out in the open with a title. But David and Jessica's relationship didn't change the special friendship the three of them had together. On the contrary, it almost seemed to strengthen the bond between the three of them.

Gambit and Rogue were thrilled with their daughter's newfound happiness. Having known David since he was in diapers helped to soften any blows that usually come along with a child dating, though it didn't stop Gambit from questioning Jessica every time she went out. But Rogue had already prepared her daughter for this by explaining that Remy was just watching out for her. So instead of getting defensive like a normal teenager, Jessica would apply a little patented LeBeau charm, smiling sweetly, giving her father a hug and kiss on the cheek. Then she'd say something to the affect of "Oh Poppa, don't be silly." Or "_Oui_ Poppa, I'll call if I'm going to be late." That usually helped to appease the Ragin' Cajun, and he didn't have to know that it was a planned act between the two women who loved him most.

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One day in February, Xavier watched Nathaniel as he trained in the Danger Room, monitoring the young man's progress and gradually increasing the programs to fit his growing expertise. The young X-man Blazer was very dedicated to one day becoming a full-fledged member of the X-men and maybe even taking over the role of leader from is father. Xavier couldn't help but note that Nathaniel was so much like Scott at that age in some ways but different in others. Best guess is that Nathaniel is the way Scott would be had he grown up with loving parents instead of in an orphanage. Nathaniel was confident, outspoken, popular, things that his father never was at that age. But both were stubborn, commanding, and ready to do whatever it took for the good of the team. Inheriting powers from both his parents made Nathaniel quite a powerful mutant, maybe not the most powerful in the world, but defiantly up there on the list. He also worked hard at it, practicing almost everyday to hone his abilities. In that respect, Nathaniel had more control and skill over the powers he was given, making him truly a force to be reckoned with.

Thinking of Nathaniel's dedication to mastering the use of his powers made his brow furrow with worry about another young mutant who wanted nothing to do with her powers, Jessica LeBeau. Sure, she acted as a reserve team member whenever help was needed, but she never came to him to learn of her abilities, nor did she ever seem to use her powers much. This was certainly a change from the child who used to use her powers in secret. Whenever he asked her about this, he sense fear from the girl, knowing that she was afraid to know the full range of her abilities, particularly a certain ability she got from her mother. Like Nathaniel, she also inherited great power from both her parents, and with a little training she could be a force to be reckoned with. But she never dealt with the fact that she could absorb energy from people. In fact, he knew that she only used that ability once and that was on Belladonna when she was four and she never talked about it.(1) Ever since then she had experimented with her other abilities, but never tried to absorb again out of fear of what it would do. Xavier knew this was a matter that had to be dealt with. It had gone on unmanaged for far too long. In fact, this worried and perplexed him so much that he cancelled his Danger Room session with Nathaniel for the next day and arranged a meeting with Jessica.

The next day Xavier was sitting in his office intently reading up on Jessica's file. Whereas most of the X-men and the students of the Xavier Institute had neatly formalized records dealing with their abilities, Jessica only had scattered notes about when her abilities emerged, but no one really knew her full potential because she did not work to strengthen it. Xavier put down the folder when he sense his appointment approaching.

"Come in," he summoned as she raised her hand to knock.

Not the least bit disturbed by this since she had grown up around the X-men, Jessica just walked into the room without giving it a second thought. "You wanted to see me Professor?"

"Yes Jessica, please sit down," he said motioning to a chair in front of his desk. The teenager put down her backpack and had a seat. "Tell me, how is everything going? Are you doing well in school, things with David alright?" he asked trying to put the girl at ease.

"Yes, all of the above, good," she said with a perplexed look on her face. "Professor, I don't mean to be rude, but you never psychically contact any of us unless it is very important. I'm guessing you wouldn't have asked me here like that unless it was really important."

Xavier smiled at her, "By growing up with the X-men you and Nathaniel have become so skeptical of everything around you. Don't ever lose that, it's an important and useful quality." Again his tone grew serious. "But you are right; I did call you here for a very important matter." With that he pushed a button to close the door Jessica left open, lest wandering souls decided to eavesdrop by the door.

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Hours later the door opened again. "It's dark out, are you sure I can't get someone to give you a ride home?"

Jessica smiled, "No thanks Professor. I think I'll fly home, it's not that far."

"Very well then, be careful," he called after her as she left the room.

"Oh Professor," she said as she popped her head back in the doorway, "I just wanted to thank you for today. I feel…I feel… well, I'm not sure what I feel, but I don't feel afraid of my powers anymore."

"That was my intention my dear, and I'm glad," he said to her. "You have been blessed with great powers, therefore you should use them to better the world as you see fit, whether it's with the X-men or not. And when you do become a teacher, there will always be a spot here at the Xavier Institute if you decide to teach here."

She smiled at him and nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes, and don't forget to bring David with you."

"I won't," she said before flying off towards her house down the road.

Once she left the room he reflected on what had just occurred. After closing the door he asked her what her intentions were after high school, to which she said that she hoped to attend college, she wanted to be a teacher like her father. Xavier then asked whether she had any intentions of joining the X-men as a full time member. She responded that she liked being a reserve member just fine and really had no desire to fight full time the way Nathaniel wanted to. She wanted to make a difference for mutants in her own way by being an educator. Her parents had been reserve member her entire life so he asked her if that had any influence on her decision. She said no it didn't, that even if they had been fully active members the way they had been many years ago, it still wouldn't have made a difference to her. He asked her if this decision had anything to do with how she felt about her own abilities to which she said no. But he sensed that although he was telling the truth, something about his statement troubled her.

After talking with her on the subject of her own abilities, he found out that Jessica was afraid of her powers. She knew both of her parents had times in their lives where their powers acted in erratic ways; in fact her mother was still unable to physically touch anyone except Gambit and Jessica. Jessica figured that the less she used her powers, the less she would know about them and thus the less she would have to fear about herself. Xavier told her the importance of knowing herself and that her powers were just another facet of her life. He got her to talk about her abilities and what she herself knew of them. After all, no one else was a better expert because she knew exactly how they reacted. She was able to explain how she felt very in control of her ability to kinetically charge objects, her ability to fly, and even her limited telepathy which had never fully developed to anything more than the ability to charm, possibly considered to have burned out when she used it to save her life during the encounter with Sinister (2). She also knew that when she felt her powers draining on her life-force that she had to balance it out somehow, usually by transferring some power to another person.

Xavier then questioned about her absorption abilities, knowing that was what truly bothered her. Her response surprised him, and it isn't an easy feat to surprise the most powerful mind on the planet. She said that she had not tried to use that power since the incident with Belladonna out of fear of what it might do. Xavier asked what happened during that encounter. Even if she was only four years old, it was a very traumatic event, so she must have remembered it somewhat. In fact she did recall that day in great detail: she remembered the picnic, playing with her grandfather, how scared she was when Belladonna grabbed her and attacked her family. And she recalled waking up in her grandfather's arms after Belladonna fled. But she didn't recall using her powers. Xavier asked if it was alright to tap into her mind to find out what happened and she gave her consent.

Entering into Jessica's mind Xavier stood in that day in the place of the four year old child and saw it from her perspective with her thoughts during the encounter. He felt her legs running and the wind on her face as she ran to a tree, all the while she was thinking about how she wanted to show her grandfather how fast she could be like a big girl. He felt her terror as she was grabbed by a strange woman who claimed to be her father's wife, which she knew couldn't be true because that was Momma's job. He felt her relief when Poppa said that the strange woman wasn't his wife anymore. After watching the battle with the little girl's thoughts and terror he came to the moment when she used her absorption powers. He knew that from working with Rogue in the past she would feel the person's persona in her mind as their life energy flowed into her and she got the ability to use their powers if they had any. As a result he expected to feel this with Rogue's child. Instead the next thing Xavier saw was Jean-Luc LeBeau's face as Jessica woke up after the incident and began to cry.

Xavier was perplexed by this. He felt Belladonna's life force flow into the little girl, but that was it, no persona, no voices, no powers, nothing. It was as if she couldn't access the powers given to her by another person, she could only steal them. With Jessica's permission he called Wolverine into the office and asked her if she could try to use her absorption on him. Knowing that Wolverine would be able to take it, Jessica obliged and absorbed a little of Wolverine's powers. Xavier then asked her how she felt. Since she was older now she didn't black out. She said that she felt some energy flow into her, but she didn't feel anything else: no personality, no powers, nothing. Xavier asked her to try to use his powers but she couldn't manifest any bone claws, and she wasn't able to use his heightened sense of smell or hearing, and none of them were willing to cause her any harm to see if she had his healing factor. It was a known fact that Rogue's absorption powers were stronger than Jessica's, as a result of Jessica having a weakened form of the ability, maybe she could only take the powers, but not use them.

While Xavier made note of that in her file, Wolverine noticed Jessica growing pale and asked her what was wrong. She said that there was too much power flowing into her, probably as a result of Wolverine's abilities laying latent in her and she needed to expel them somehow. Xavier offered to be the vessel since this would provide him with proof of the second part of his theory. He told her if possible to specifically concentrate on Wolverine's abilities, in other words not to transfer any of the abilities that she was born with, just something else that might be in her. She obliged and Xavier felt energy flow into her. Then he felt a sensation he hadn't felt in a long time. He got out of his chair and he walked, much to the surprise of Jessica and Wolverine. He explained that this proved his theory. Jessica could absorb a person's powers but she couldn't use them, however they all knew she could pass powers to another person since she did it to David on a frequent basis. He assumed that she could pass on someone else's powers, not just those that she was born with. Xavier's temporary ability to walk was proof of Wolverine's healing factor at work on Xavier. It only lasted for a few minutes since Jessica only used her power on Wolverine for a second and Xavier sat down in his hover-chair before he could fall. But now they understood Jessica's full potential. She might not be able to use the powers she absorbed, but maybe someone else could.

For the rest of the winter Jessica was willing to go see Xavier twice a week to work on mastering her abilities. Most of the time David would go with her to be the vessel for the absorbed powers. He would work himself to see how long he could hold the powers on loan and how many he could hold in case in an emergency she needed to pass most of her powers to him temporarily.

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Winter passed into spring before anyone knew it. On the first decent day out, Nathaniel, David, and Jessica decided to hang out on a grassy hill under a tree in the school yard and do their homework there instead of at the Mansion library or one of their houses. Max Cooper skulked out of the school building. Another day of boredom behind him, but tonight there was a meeting of the Youth FOH to look forward to. He was President of the local chapter. It was somewhere he felt important, unlike this place where he was just another face. He was in charge of spreading the word of the mutant menace and how to stop it to the younger Youth FOH members, they looked up to him and he intended to set a good example. He helped to organize groups to run newly discovered mutants out of school, the FOH heads provided names from scans that were done during physicals and Max and his group did the rest. It didn't hurt that their own principal Mr. Desmon was a member of the FOH as well. Laws might legally protect those mutants, but no law matters more to a teenager than the law of social standing. Making the mutant know what an abomination it was aided in the said mutant leaving the school on its own. Max smiled at the thought. What he was doing was good, not only for him but for the future. As he had always been told, once the mutant menace was weeded out of society, then normal humans can get on with life.

As he walked across the school yard he spotted three figures sitting under a tree, working on some homework, talking, and laughing. They were Nathaniel Summers, Jessica LeBeau, and David Williams. He scowled in their direction. He hated them. He hated them for being friends with each other, for being so close that no one seemed to break them apart. He hated them because his parents told him to. They didn't tell him to hate these three specifically, but rather to hate anyone linked to mutants. It was a well-known fact that David's father died defending mutants, which made him guilty and his friends guilty by association.

Across the school year Nathaniel spotted Max out of the corner of his eye. "Uh oh, Mean Max just left the building" he muttered to them. They privately referred to their classmate as Mean Max since elementary school. For nearly their entire existence this boy had incessantly picked on them, mainly David but he would verbally harass the others if they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. When they were younger it wasn't so bad, like them, he feared the teacher. But now that they were older, the teacher's opinion of him didn't seem to matter any more. This fact became evident when seconds later Max leapt on top of David and started pounding on the blond haired, glasses wearing boy. Jessica and Nathaniel tried to pull him off of David but he managed to get a few shots in on them as well, pushing Nathaniel onto the ground and giving Jessica a black eye. After making sure that Jessica was OK, Nathaniel noticed that David's glasses were broken and his face was bloody. As much self-defense training he might have had with the others at the Mansion over the years, David was still no match for someone that much bigger than himself. Nathaniel realized his own disadvantage, Max was much stronger than even he was; Max was the biggest and strongest kid at school. But if he didn't act fast, he was afraid David would be seriously hurt. Nathaniel looked at Jessica as he said, "I'm sorry but I have to do this," and he blasted Max with a low-grade optic blast. Max was knocked off of David in an instant.

"You're….you're a mutie," he stammered. Why didn't he know that! The FOH would have told him if they knew! And he would have loved making public the knowledge that the school's star football player was really mutie scum. Max abandoned his attack on David and charged towards Nathaniel, only this time he whipped out a pocket knife.

"Stop that! I don't want to hurt you," Nathaniel screamed dodging the weapon. He and Jessica were always taught by their parents and the X-men that they should never use their powers unless it was absolutely necessary. It had been necessary to get Max off of David, but he didn't want to have this escalate into a full blown battle.

"Well I want to hurt you, Mutie! You don't belong in a school with normal humans," his anger took a hold of him and he lunged again.

David looked at his girlfriend, blood streaming out of his nose, "You have to do something, I'm afraid he'll kill Natey." Jessica nodded in agreement knowing what he meant. She momentarily feared using her powers in public, but she knew David was right. Max was acting crazy and if she didn't so something, Natey might get seriously hurt, or worse. So she flew over to Max, picked him up, causing him to drop the knife, and suspended him in the air, "Sorry Shugah, but I can't let you hurt my friends. You're gonna have to cool off!"

"Put me down you dirty mutie!" He shrieked. Her too! If these two had been mutants all along, how many more were there in the school that they didn't know about!

Meanwhile Mr. Desmon, the principal, had been in his office when he heard some commotion outside in the school yard. He saw Max lunged at David and knew he had to get out there before someone got hurt. When he made it outside he was shocked to see Nathaniel Summers shoot a beam of light out of his eyes, knocking Max off of David and then petite little Jessica LeBeau fly up and pick Max up off the ground.

"STOP IT ALL OF YOU," he bellowed. "My office, NOW!" The interruption got their attention. Nathaniel helped David up; Jessica landed and put Max down. Then they all gathered their belongings and made their way to the principal's office.

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The principal made his calls to all the parents, and told them to come to the school immediately. Mutants in the school, but how! They scanned the children every year during their physicals and thought they had weeded out all the muties. They did have a new machine this year that had never been used. Perhaps this will give them the results they needed to expel the mutant trouble makers.

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"Remy could ya get that," Rogue called to her husband from the bathroom in reference to the ringing phone. She had just gotten in the house and all she wanted to do was wash her hands from another day of work with Wolverine. It seemed like everyday there was another vehicle to repair, or the equipment in the Danger Room wasn't working right, or this, or that. If it wasn't one thing it was another. Well, it gave her a steady paycheck, so she didn't care if the constant car wrecks were from reconnaissance missions or teaching the students how to drive. As she was drying her hands she heard Jean's voice tell her "We'll meet you with the van outside in 5 minutes." Jean never mentally contacted anyone unless it was an emergency. There was a hint of worry in her tone. It didn't take her long to figure out why because when she stepped out of the bathroom she face to face with a worried looking Remy.

"Somet'ing's happened wit' the children. We have to get to t'school now," he said. As they made their way outside to the anxiously waiting Mr. and Mrs. Summers, Rogue was certainly glad Scott was driving, because she knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate on the road with all these worst case scenarios running through her head.

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The scene in Mr. Desmon's office was tense. Max, playing up the role of the victim sat with his parents on the right side of the room. David and his mother sat in the middle, and Jessica, Nathaniel and their parents sat to the far left. Before the parents arrived, the students had all been taken to the nurse's office to be cleaned up, however they were also scanned with the newest mutant scanning technology, a device that was smaller than the one that was traditionally implanted in the scale. It was concealed in the principal's hand as the nurse handed out bandages and ice packs. Only Max knew what the Palm Pilot looking device Mr. Desmon held really was.

Mr. Desmon cleared his throat before talking. "First of all, I'd like to say that I am very disappointed at what happened. I like to think of this school as a safe haven from the rest of the world. Violence is not something we condone. However, mutants pose a threat to the mainstream society and I cannot punish Max for self-defense to what he viewed as a personal threat."

At this statement everyone began to talk at once, silenced almost immediately when Mr. Desmon began to speak again. "We scanned Nathaniel and he has shown up as a mutant, something our previous scans of him with the older technology never showed. Jessica's scans show her as a human, but as we have witnessed, she must have powers, perhaps the scanners are not powerful enough yet to see that, which makes her all the more dangerous. We request that for the safety of the other children and the right for them to lead normal lives, that these two be removed from the district."

Knowing that anger wouldn't solve anything, the X-men tried to remain calm but these were their children they were talking about. "What about their rights to lead normal lives," screamed Rogue once the shock of what Mr. Desmon said wore off.

"Not to mention the fact that they were attacked with a knife, _they_ were just defending themselves," argued Scott Summers.

"As mutants, they have no rights in this school, or any other public institute as far as I am concerned," Mr. Desmon said, his prejudice clearly showing. As a public figure he tried to keep it in check most of the time, but it is impossible to hide who you really are.

Max's father Max Cooper Sr stood up and screamed, "I suspect that most of you are mutants as well," he said as he pointed an accusing finger over the parents of the outted mutant children, particular attention was directed at the sunglasses wearing fathers. "Not many people would wear sunglasses indoors unless they had something to hide."

Reinvigorated by his fellow FOH member, the principal ordered, "Now, I want you mutants all out of my school. NOW!"

"We knew this would happen one day," said Jean. "And we have discussed it at great length, and you know what, we will pull our children out of this school, not because you are telling us to, but because we fear for their safety. You are not the ones that need to be afraid, they are. They are innocent children who are pawns of a system that is working against them."

Without another word, Jessica, Nathaniel, David, and their parents got out of the chairs they were sitting in and headed out the door.

"Wait a second David; he called after the blonde boy. "I didn't say that you had to leave. It is apparent from scans and your reactions in the battle that you have no powers. As a human, you are invited to stay in this school. Max will be punished for attacking _you _of course."

David looked at the man that he was taught to respect and couldn't find any regard for him. He also glanced at the bully who had caused this mess as he spit out the words, "I'll have to decline that offer. I don't want any part of an institution that won't accept my friends just because they are different." Everyone looked in surprise as the shy boy said these words. His mother couldn't help but feel proud of her son, especially when he said his next words. "My father died for their cause, the least I could do is refuse to suppose your prejudiced cause. I might not have super powers. I might always have my friends coming to my rescue like they did today, but I'll find my own way to bring down bigots like you. _Someday I will._ It's the least I can do." With that he put his arm around his mother and left the building, thus leaving the school forever.

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Now that they were on longer welcome in regular school, the only thing left to do was to admit Jessica and Nathaniel into the Institute. Sure, Xavier hoped that they would be able to complete a regular education, but that wasn't the case. But what about David? Had he not shown the strength of his own character? He heard about how the human teen stood up for what he believed in and was proud that he took up the cause his father died fighting for. He could probably find another school to accept him, he wasn't a mutant, and he wasn't going to manifest powers. Then Xavier got a brilliant idea. Why should his school be limited to students who were persecuted for being mutants? Why not open the doors to those who were persecuted for being the friends of mutants? The goal of his school was to have a place were tolerance and peace ruled in the place of hatred. Why not extend that same tolerance towards humans?

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When Logan heard that his goddaughter and her friends were kicked out of school for being mutants, Ororo had to do a lot of convincing to prevent him from going down to the school and rearranging the principal's face. He couldn't help but get worked up over the situation, those kids were family to him and it made him furious that after all this time, after all the years the X-men put into fighting for mutant rights, that people couldn't live in peace because of a tiny piece of their genetic strand. What really scared him was that if this could happen once to their own children, what would stop it from happening again? What if the next ones persecuted were the Summers' twins or his own little Munroe? Not that those children had any powers, they were far too young to display any signs one way or the other and no one wanted Hank to scan for them. It was better to let nature take its course. What if the next time it was worse, someone was hurt or even killed? He didn't want to think about that. Most people see him as someone who fears nothing, but even the X-man known as Wolverine could be scared by certain things, one of which was of harm coming to those he loved and him not being able to do a thing about it. Every time he thought about harm coming to Ororo, or Munroe, or any of the X-men, he hit the Danger Room projections harder. That was his compromise with his wife. He wouldn't go down to the school and cause a scene; instead he could take out his frustrations running a high level Danger Room session. And judging from the number of Sentinels he had destroyed in this simulation, he was plenty mad.

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(1)- Ch 22

(2)- Ch 24

**Author's Note-** I will seriously be happy when this semester is over with! I wanted to get this chapter out before finals start since well I know I won't have any time then. Good luck to anyone who has finals or final papers due soon:-)

**GiveGodtheglory-** I'll take that to mean you enjoyed the update:-P

**Calliann- **Oh wow, thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad you are enjoying this story. I don't know if Jessica and David are up there with Remy and Rogue, I mean those are some pretty big shoes to fill, but I'll honored that you think so! I have fun with them anyway. I hope you keep enjoying this story:-)

**Ishandahalf- **A Johnny Depp biography eh, I wonder if my one suitemate's seen it. She's a big fan, we have lots of posters up of him in our common room, good stuff, good stuff. I'm glad you enjoyed my twisted love triangle; I wanted to do something different in which one side of the triangle (Natey) wasn't really part of it since well he was never the object of anyone's affection. After all, I already did the traditional triangle with Booby and Jubilee; it was time for something different. Anyway, glad you are enjoying this story:-)

**Tammy-** Glad you enjoyed the mother/daughter bonding, I was afraid I focused too much on the father/daughter relationship in this story and wanted to make a point in say that Jessica and Rogue are close too. :-)

**Quing-** Yeah, everyone seemed the think that Jessica would end up having a thing for Nathaniel, but nope, David was the one for her, despite their apparent differences. :-)

**Sweety8587-** Glad you enjoyed the family bonding :-)

**Khitoutsu Hikutsa-** Lol, well I can see how people would think they could be related since they are both from the South, have brown hair, cool powers, and similarities like both being adopted. But I'm glad you took the opportunity to read your dad's comics to clear that up! I hope you continue to enjoy this story :-)

**Reiyuka-** I'm glad you liked what you read so far, I hope you continue to enjoy this story :-)


	34. Of Mythical and Biblical Proportions

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Through the Years

Chapter 34: Of Mythical and Biblical Proportions

Gambit sighed with defeat. He had his lesson for today all planned out, to teach his third period literature class about the mythology of the Phoenix, the bird that would rise from the ashes. After all it was a very famous story so it fit in well with his unit on mythology in general. He didn't take into consideration that his students would rather hear about the legend of their local Phoenix, aka Jean-Grey. So he threw his plan out the window and proceeded to tell them all about the Phoenix saga. He looked over at his daughter to see if she was bored, after all she had heard this story at least a thousand times over the course of her life. In most schools children would not be placed in their parents' class but the Xavier Institute of Education was not as large as a regular school so it really couldn't be helped. None of the X-men teachers played favorites with Jessica, Nathaniel, and David; they expected the same caliber of work from them as any other child in the school. However, times like this, where the students wanted to hear about something the X-men did might prove slightly boring for those three, after all, they had grown-up hearing about the X-men's greatest battles, but in reality they didn't mind hearing the tales over and over again. David didn't mind because he thought they were cool stories and Jessica and Nathaniel loved that these tales were a part of their heritage. While he was telling the saga, Gambit caught his daughter's eye and winked. Jessica winked back. She knew what he was thinking because she thought about it too every time she heard the Phoenix saga…:

One day during a summertime barbeque when she was about three years old, Cyclops had gathered the children together to tell them the story of Phoenix. Since the children were so little they had a hard time understanding that Phoenix and Jean were ultimately two different people since the real Jean had been encapsulated at the bottom of the Hudson during the time of Phoenix. To clarify this in their own little minds they started to call her Jean-nix. It was the only way it made sense to them and it took Jean quite a while to get David to stop calling her Ms. Jean-nix, Jessica to stop calling her Aunt Jean-nix, and even Nathaniel to cease calling her Mommy Jean-nix. After the whole incident with the Jean-nix saga, the X-men waited to tell more complicated stories until the children were a little older.

Professor Xavier was a little nervous at first about allowing David, Jessica, and Nathaniel to attend the Institute. He didn't want the other students treating the children of the X-men differently, nor did he want David to be shunned for being a flatscan. But things worked out better than he had imagined. Not only was David well received by the mutant student body for the role that his father, and now his newly politically active older sister, had served in trying to secure mutant rights, but his own role as an everyday human friend of mutants allowed the students to identify with him. Most of them had their own accepting human friend or friends back home that stuck by them, and David was a symbol of that to them. Jessica also adjusted to the new school quite well, being even more outgoing than she had been at the regular public school. Only Nathaniel had a bit of work to do socially. He had been so use to being at the top of the popularity podium that it took some time to work his way up from the bottom as the new guy. But he eventually found his own niche, starting up a few casual mutant football teams with the other students of the Institute and playing the teams against each other in weekly games. His efforts in starting mutant sports helped build more school spirit, especially among other former athletes like himself who missed the thrill of the game. With the help of Beast, another former mutant athlete, he started to write up special mutant adaptations to popular sports games, hoping to get some teams established in his school, as well as with the few other sanctioned mutant schools Xavier knew of or helped start around the country.

The three of them quickly finished out the rest of junior year, got summer jobs, and proceeded to enjoy senior year of high school at the Institute. They attended sporting events, dances, and other activities together, although when it came to the dances they would always be joined by Nathaniel's flavor of the day as they teased between themselves at Nathaniel seemingly revolving door of girls. His response was always the same: "Look, just because you two found your soulmate right away doesn't mean that everyone else is that lucky! SOME of us need to test the waters before jumping in." That would usually result in someone getting smacked with a pillow or a notebook or getting tackled and a good-natured fight would breakout with all of them bursting into a fit of laughter before it was all over with.

Before they knew it graduation day was upon them, and none of their parents could be prouder when they saw their children receive their diplomas and head onto college. That would be the first time the three youngsters Iceman long ago dubbed the "Diaper-Wearing Trio" would be away from not only their homes but each other. Nathaniel stayed the closest to home; in fact he lived at home and commuted to the local college that Monica Williams, David's mother, taught at. He wanted to say close so that he could continue his training with the X-men. His longtime dreams of becoming a full time member were realized in his first year of college when he was pulled from the ranks of reserve team member to active member. Xavier said that it was on the condition that he put his studies of law enforcement first. Nathaniel felt it was a surreal moment when Xavier called him into his office and made him a fulltime member, presenting him with his own uniform, a black jumpsuit with red trim and the X-men insignia on the left side. It also had a headpiece similar to the one his mother and his Uncle Remy had with their uniforms.

Jessica and David both attending college a little further away, thus they lived away from home. David attended a school in New York renowned for its computer education program and honed the skills that Beast had taught him as a child. He was grateful that he had a girlfriend who could fly, thus she would make trips to his school every couple of weeks to visit him. Jessica went to a liberal arts college in New Jersey that had a good teacher education program. She shared a dorm room with her friend Jane, a girl she knew in regular high school that stuck with her after finding out that she was a mutant.

Time passed quickly as it often does in college and before they knew it three years of college passed and they were home for summer break. Their time was always filled either helping out at the Institute, babysitting the school aged Summers twins or pre-school aged Munroe, or helping David's sister Carlie, who had been politically active for some time now, with her campaign for election in the House of Representatives. At 27 she would be one of the youngest members of Congress since you had to be at least 25 years old, but it didn't hurt that she was a legacy, the child of a former Congressman. And although it was a dangerous move politically, she ran on the same mutant rights platform that her father had so many years ago. One day Nathaniel surprised his friends with their own X-men uniforms, something he and the Professor had been planning for sometime. They might not be active members, but as reserve members it was high time for them to get real uniforms instead of battling in old hand-me-down jumpsuits. David's uniform was similar in style to Nathaniel's only the colors were black with blue trim. David also had a utility belt in which he could keep the various tools needed for missions, such as some of his computer equipment. Jessica received a simple green and black jumpsuit, insulated to help keep her body temperature constant during battles.

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"Jessica, Jessica, come on _petite_ wake up," Remy said as he gently shook his daughter awake. She grumbled something incoherent and rolled over back into dream land. Remy sighed and smiled. Ever since she was a little girl it was impossible to put her to sleep and then impossible to get her up in the morning. "Girl, it's amazin' you get up for classes at school." Sighing again Remy got off the bed and walked to the door, pausing to lean over his shoulder and say, "Well alright you sleep all day, but Uncle Warren will be disappointed dat he missed you."

That achieved the desired result. Jessica quickly shot up, "Poppa, that's today?!"

Remy chuckled, "Jus' get ready, we'll meet you downstairs."

Jessica rushed around to get ready, throwing on the clothing she laid out the night before. She hadn't seen Uncle Warren in years. The multi-millionaire X-men didn't visit that often, but when he did it was always an event to remember. He always had great stories to tell and spoiled all the X-children rotten, making him a favorite for all of them. After having a leisurely brunch with everyone at the Mansion, he tossed Jessica the keys to his new, expensive car and sent the kids to ride around town for a while. So Jessica, David, and Nathaniel gathered Munroe and the Summers twins, Alex and Charlie, buckled them securely in the backseat and decided the head to the mall.

While the younger generation had fun riding around in Warren Worthington III's car, the other X-men had some laughs over coffee and cake. They didn't even notice that their house guest and the Professor silent left to go to his office to discuss a matter of grave importance.

"Warren, I am very grateful that you were able to secure this information for me," the Professor said as he looked over the documents his former pupil handed to him.

"I'm just glad that my wealth and connections could provide useful to you Professor," Warren, aka Archangel, said has he took a seat and stretched his wings. It was refreshing for him to be in a place where he could truly be himself. Sure it was really no secret to the rest of the world that he was a mutant, but his money and fame somehow made that less of a factor for the most part. But since he was a public figure he still couldn't truly be himself, it was only in this house with these people, his friends…no family, where he felt truly comfortable.

"Yes indeed it has," Xavier said scanning the documents.

"I just don't understand the context though, it didn't make much sense to me," said the blonde haired angel. "I assume I'm missing something though? What I did get out of it though is that this is a serious problem."

"Yes," Xavier said gravely, "I have the rest of the information though; Bishop and some of the other gathered it. I've been studying this problem for years, naively hoping that it would go away or they would somehow get shut down. But we have to act soon or I'm afraid it will be too late."

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Jackson Porter looked at the e-mail he received with delight. The machine was ready. Codenamed Project: Noah's Ark, its job was to purge the world of the mutant genetic code permanently. It had taken much longer than expected, years longer in fact, but it was worth the wait! It would destroy not only mutants but the human carriers as well, leaving only the genetically pure behind to give rebirth to humanity. Sure, they all wished there was a way to spare the human carriers of this gene, and even the mutants once their abomination was gone, but there was no way to do that. Their death was the only way. On a small scale test of lab animals injected with the gene as both active and carrier revealed that the death would be quick and painless, their bodies would just cease to function and they would die almost instantaneously. Some FOH members wanted the mutants, and even the human carriers to suffer a much harsher demise, but Jackson Porter was glad that it would be quick and painless. He knew that no one asked to have this burden, but at the same time it would be better to put them out of their misery without the constant fighting and struggle. Being a mutant wasn't a matter of right or wrong, it just wasn't natural period. If the world was meant to be populated by mutants, then humans would have been mutants from day one, none of this danger from superpowered people because then everyone would have had powers. There wouldn't be this unbalance between the powered and the unpowered. What probably scared him the most was something that he never revealed to anyone, not the FOH, not his children or grandchildren, not even his own wife: He feared that the natural progression of humanity was that one day, after generations and generations passed, everyone on the planet would be a mutant, and that though scared him more than anything. That is why he was glad Noah's Ark was coming to save humanity and wipe the world clean of the mutant genetic sequence, once and for all.

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**Author's Note-** So I apologize for this chapter taking so long as well as the last chapter being so flawed. I didn't have a chance to read it over because of finals and everything so I missed all the mistakes in it. Those have since been fixed and now that the holidays and everything are done, I am able to get this chapter out to you. I really hope you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it, we are nearing the end of our journey in "Through the Years" and I just wanted to thank you for taking it with me :-) This chapter is shorter than usual, but the next chapter makes up for it in length and everything, hehe. See you in the next and final chapter.

**GiveGodtheglory****-** Oooops! Thanks for catching that mistake with Xavier's powers, I corrected it. I really didn't read over the last chapter which is really unusual for me. But it's all fixed now. :-)

**Ishandahalf****-** Yeah, it has been a while between updates, but you know how it is, school and stuff. That's why I didn't post this next chapter until I was completely done with the story, that way I just have to upload chapters and not have to worry about finishing. I'm so glad you liked the last chapter despite it's many flaws, that's the last time I write a chapter during finals, paper writing, holidays, and such. As for Remy's wife being Rogue's job, I mean who else is more qualified? :-P

**Tammy-** I'm so glad you liked the different reactions of Cyclops and Rogue at the school. I hope you continue to enjoy what happens! :-)

**Sweety8587- **Hehe, I like the analogy, a living Picasso, I should have used that…:-P

**Kizmet -** I hear you about being a romantic, who doesn't like a little fluff every now and then:-P As for the fight scene, I'm glad that it came off realistic, I was afraid that it wouldn't. Hope you continue to enjoy this story! :-)

**Quing****- **I know, I didn't update soon, but I hope this chapter makes up for it anyway. Hope you enjoy it! :-)

**Calliann****-** You know what, if the children weren't present maybe the X-men would have rearranged the principal's face, after all the adult X-men must know how embarrassing parents can be to teens when it comes to their safety. And they have to set a good example about violence not solving anything, hehe :-P

**Liliput83-** Oh I hear you with being 'away' because of other priorities, life can be so complicated sometimes! Anyway, the FOH might not be as dangerous to the world as other villains such as Sinister or Magneto or whoever, but they are almost more dangerous to mutants since they are so illogical. In the old cartoon series there was a quote from MasterMold about him needed to get rid of humans because in the end mutants are humans too, so stupid FOH doesn't really think things through do they? :-)

**Egokreep****-** Thank you for your kind words, I hope you enjoy the rest of the story :-)


	35. The End, The Beginning

_Disclaimer: I do not own any Marvel characters; please don't sue me I am a poor college student. I am not making any money off of this and I am just writing it for the benefit of my own entertainment as well as the entertainment of the other fans out there. Also, this is a story from my own imagination, any resemblance to real life events, or even those in fiction is completely coincidental. As an additional note, there are so many fan fiction stories out there on this site as well as others, so any similarity is coincidental or great minds just happen to think alike. I do claim the non-Marvel characters, such as the Williams family and the new offspring of the LeBeau and Summers families. Thanks!_

Through the Years

Chapter 35: The End, The Beginning

David Daniel Williams was sound asleep, as were most people in Westchester County that night. His dreams were the same nearly every night, laced with images and fantasies of him and his real-life dream girl Jessica Rose LeBeau enjoying each other's company and living in a world where they could just be happy. Being the human lover of a mutant woman might have made some people give up by now, but not him. He loved her no matter what! In his dream Jessica was about to run into his arms when her appearance changed into that of Professor Xavier.

"AHHH," he woke with a gasp, and then noticed a mental projection of the Professor in front of him.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed your sleep David," the image said.

"Disturbed is a good way of putting it," he muttered shaking his head, recalling the image of the Professor's face on his girlfriend's body that was still fresh in his mind.

"I need to speak with you; this is a matter of grave importance. You may say no, but I'm afraid this mission won't succeed unless you do exactly as I say," the image said with a hint of distress in his voice.

"Just tell me what I have to do Professor," David said sitting up ready to do whatever was asked of him.

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"Attention, ALL available X-men report to the War Room IMMEDIATELY!" The alert came too early in the morning for anyone's liking. But they were the X-men, sworn to protect the world at any cost. After all, that's what they do. The members of the Mansion stumbled into the War Room and grabbed any available seat. The LeBeau family took a little longer to get there than most since they lived on a piece of property down the road from the Mansion. As X-men though they received the alert like everyone else. Rogue heard the alert first and woke her sleeping husband. She threw on a robe over her summery nightgown as Remy went to wake their daughter, the X-man Wildcard, who was a very heavy sleeper. Rogue ran down the stairs and met her husband and groggy daughter by the door. They had done this before, they knew the drill. Gambit, who slept in boxers and nothing else was handed a robe by his wife while Jessica put on some shoes. Due to her powers causing a constant drain on her small body, she was always colder than most people, especially at night. Therefore she slept in flannel PJs no matter what the season. The LeBeaus were pros at this and could be ready to leave the house in 2 minutes, 3 in the winter if they had to bundle up. Rogue carried Gambit and Jessica carried her boyfriend David as they flew to the Mansion. David, AKA Hacker, lived behind the LeBeau's and was already waiting outside on their doorstep. As the only non-mutant member of the X-men he almost felt it was his duty to be one step ahead. He didn't want to be seen as a liability. They were so use to this routine that they even beat a few of their team members who live in the Mansion. They were in the War Room less than 7 min after the alert was sounded.

Rogue took a seat next to her husband Gambit and put her head on his shoulder. Their daughter Jessica flopped into a chair on the other side of Gambit and put her head on the table. David sat next to her kissed her cheek saying "Sleeping Beauty wake up, you might miss something important." Wolverine barged into the room cursing under his breath and mentioned that this had better be good or someone was going to pay. Storm glided into a seat next to the Professor, as co-leader of the X-men she wanted to make sure she would pay full attention to the matter at hand despite the early morning hour.

Ten minutes after the alarm had sounded, it seemed like everyone had assembled into the War Room. Lack of chairs made it evident that the team had grown and changed over the years.

"I think we need a bigger War Room" quipped Bobby Drake, the last one to arrive, as he was forced to stand in the back.

"Thank you all for being here." Professor X started.

"Though I think we can use some work on getting here quicker, perhaps a few practice runs will do us some good," Cyclops interrupted. He received threatening looks from nearly everyone, but none as deadly as the one from Wolverine.

The Professor continued, "We are faced with an issue of grave danger, the fate of the world as we know it is at stake."

"So tell us something we don't know, I mean that's usually the case when we are called in here at such a lovely time of day" chirped Iceman from the back. This time the deadly look he received came from Cyclops while Bobby tried to hide behind his very pregnant wife Jubilee and Wolverine.

Use to this, the Professor continued his briefing unaffected, "My X-men, when I first founded you I dreamed of a world where normal humans and mutants could co-exist peacefully. It has taken many years, the costs have been tremendous and all of our lives have been significantly changed, but we are on the road to achieving that dream. Mutants have gone from being a handful of outcasts, to a sizable portion of the population. Over time those that hate and fear us have gone from being a large majority to a small minority. Most people have come to realize that mutants just want to live peacefully in society. Many know that there is a chance that their own children or grandchildren could become mutants. They want a world where their families will be safe, just as we do. We have worked hard for this acceptance, but now we are at a crossroads. Something has happened that will either make or break this existence we have carved out for ourselves."

He paused and glanced around at those assembled. Beast, Iceman, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and houseguest Archangel were his original students. To him they represented his original dream. Storm & Wolverine, Jean & Cyclops and Gambit & Rogue represented those who had experienced what it was like to raise a family in this world. They themselves had grown up in a world where there was nearly no chance of acceptance. They however raised children in a world where mutants were in less danger than they had been as youngsters. Their own children met others their own age who were more accepting of mutants, and even had human friends. Iceman & the expectant Jubilee would soon face those same hardships themselves. Jessica and David represented the future. Here existed a relationship where a flatscan human loved a very powerful mutant. David's membership with the X-men, and his family's relationship with the team members proved that there were humans who felt they too needed to fight for mutant rights.

"Well, what is it Charles?" Storm's soothing voice brought Xavier back to reality.

"Yeah Chuck, what's the deal," Wolverine grumbled, obviously ready for battle, "Someone doesn't like the future we built."

The news that followed resulted in shock and horror from everyone in the room, even those who had a passing knowledge on the subject from helping the Professor track the information on Project: Noah's Ark for the last few years. Xavier explained that the FOH had built a weapon of mass destruction that once activated, would become a giant timebomb counting down the seconds until anyone with an X-gene was destroyed. Not only would those with fully developed powers be affected, but those that carried the gene as well. The FOH planned to use this weapon to wipe mutant kind off the face of the planet forever. And the X-men didn't have much time; the weapon was already being powered up. A weapon that large needed time to warm up and build up power, so they had a few hours to spare, but would it be enough time if they succeeded. Xavier split the X-men into two groups. One group would be in charge of keeping the FOH forces at bay, a diversion if you will; the other team was given the task of fighting their way into the compound and shutting down the weapon. Wolverine, Archangel, Bishop, Sage, Cyclops, Iceman, Hacker, and Wildcard were on that team. Storm, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Gambit, Jean, Blaze, and the others were on diversion. Professor Xavier and Beast were to monitor activities from the Blackbird and take care of any wounded brought to them and the pregnant Jubilee would monitor things back at the Mansion and keep an eye on the sleeping students and young children. When Cyclops asked why Hacker would be going with his team instead of staying with the command team as usual, Professor X explained that to get close enough to the structure his computer talents would be needed, an answer that satisfied everyone. David gave the Professor a small smile, happy that he didn't have to make up an excuse for the true reason he was going into the field.

The moments that followed the briefing were heart wrenching as family and friends said good-bye to each other, fearful that if they failed this mission these would be their last words to each other. Wolverine and Storm took a moment to look at their sleeping son Munroe before wishing each other luck and going their separate ways. Jean-Grey, Nathaniel, and Cyclops also looked in on the sleeping twins before Jean and Nathaniel said goodbye to Cyclops. Jean was glad that she was on the same team as her son. Even though he was turning 21 in August, he was still her baby and she wanted to watch after him as much as she could. At this time Iceman could be seen rubbing his wife's large belly, telling his unborn son or daughter about how he hoped to see them grow up, and then he pulled his wife in for a long, meaningful kiss. David shook hands with Nathaniel before he went to join his girlfriend in her good byes with her family.

"Momma, Poppa, Uncle Kurt, I love you, please be careful," Jessica pleaded as she embraced her family for what could be the last time.

"Gal, ya know we will be," Rogue said as she fought to keep from crying. It didn't seem fair to her that Charles had split her family up. The Summers family had been split as well, but at least Jean was staying with her son. She only wished that somehow she or her husband or her brother was staying with Jessica. But Xavier's mind was set with the teams. Their strengths and weaknesses were made to balance each other and achieve the eventual goal of the mission.

As the teams went their separate ways Gambit grabbed David's arm and looked straight into his brown eyes. "I know Jessica is able t'take care of herself, but please watch after my baby girl. I know dat you above all people would do anyt'ing to save her." Gambit knew Jessica was capable of taking care of herself, but he always worried about her, just like he worried about Rogue. Even though he knew that Rogue had a better chance of surviving a major battle than he did, Gambit couldn't help but try to protect her anyway. It was his nature; it was how he showed his love.

Having known Gambit his entire life, David knew that this was something he meant with all his heart and soul. For that one moment, the two men who loved Jessica LeBeau more than anyone else in the world looked at each other with a certain understanding. David could see the pleading in Gambit's red-on-black eyes, the eyes of a father who didn't know what to do when he couldn't be there to watch out for his child.

"You have my word, sir, I'd never let anything happen to her if I could help it."

Gambit nodded, knowing that David understood; they were men in love with women who were more powerful than they were but they felt obligated to protect them. It was in their nature, they were one in the same. They shook hands and David felt something being slipped into his palm. He turned it over and it was a Jack of Hearts playing card.

"For luck," Gambit explained. "My wife and my daughter are t'queens of my heart. But you hold a special place dere too, son." With that he went with his wife to one of the mini-jets that would be used for this mission. David slipped the card in his utility belt and headed to the Blackbird to meet with his team.

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The location was Upstate New York, in fact surprisingly not far from the Mansion in the grand scheme of things. Wolverine made note of this by muttering "How could we have let them get this far, we should have known, we should have done something earlier."

But the fact of the matter is that they couldn't have done something earlier if they tried. The Professor knew the machine was at its most vulnerable while it was powering up so destroying it before hand was not an option. Plus, other information that the Professor possessed verified that destroying this device would have been impossible for the X-men to do under most conditions. This was it, there was no previous opportunity in the past and there wouldn't be another if they failed.

The diversion team met with a heavier force than they expected, but nothing that they ultimately couldn't handle. After all, the FOH forces were armed humans, while the X-men had their abilities to aid them in the battle; although they did not underestimate the strength of these FOH soldiers. Their hatred for mutants gave them extra courage in the fight for what they thought to be a righteous cause. The X-men also did what they could to avoid hurting the FOH soldiers, knowing that these men and women had families of their own that they were just trying to protect, not that there would be any heart felt reasoning on the battlefield, but they didn't want to escalate the situation with human fatalities.

Storm was the leader of the diversion team, using her calm, cool command to keep the team focused on the task at hand, as well as making sure to minimize the injury on both sides.

"Gambit, blast those soldiers in the trees. Rogue, catch them as they fall, but don't let them get away."

"You've got it Shugah," she said as the husband and wife team went to carry out their orders.

Unfortunately the blast from Gambit's cards took down a large oak tree instead of just knocking the soldiers out of it. Rogue caught two of them while Jean was able to catch the third with her mind. Blaze ran towards a fourth soldier, one who was taking potshots at the X-men. The soldier stood in the path of the falling tree and Blaze shot an optic blast at the tree to buy a few seconds as he lunged at the soldier, getting him out of the way in the nick of time, though the soldier did take a heavy blow to the head when Blaze tackled him. When the dust settled Blaze was surprised to see that the unconscious face staring up at him was familiar. Jean sensed that her son was stunned and went over to him to see what was wrong. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder as he stood up and looked at the man on the ground.

"I went to school with him Mom, years ago. And I mean we never liked each other but I never thought he was capable of such hatred."

Jean looked at the unconscious soldier and recognized him as well. She wrapped her arms around her son, "Oh Nathaniel, I'm sorry you have to see such ugliness in the world." With that she gave him a kiss on the forehead before running of to help Storm deal with a group of armed guards.

"No Mom," Nathaniel muttered to himself. "At least I know the good of the world, I just wish Max could see the good because all he tries to see is the ugliness." His thoughts were interrupted when the Professor mentally contacted him. Nathaniel nodded with understanding. I'm on my way, he thought. Then he ran as fast as he could to get to where the fight/shut down team was headed.

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The fight/shut down team gathered at the edge of the cliff. It had been no small feat getting to the ridge above the complex. While the diversion team did a good job of keeping the bulk of the FOH forces away from them, they still faced some troops stationed throughout the woods leading to the complex. The X-men did their best to render the troops unconscious or to capture them in some way without hurting them. Even David took out a few soldiers with the powers that Jessica had infused in him. Before they left the Professor asked Jessica to absorb powers from Wolverine and Bishop and he asked her to try to hold them as long as possible, periodically giving them to David. He also told her to give him her father's powers since they would provide useful. She didn't know why specifically but if that's what the Professor wanted, she knew better than to argue. Professor X was always one step ahead of the game.

At the cliff above the complex, they gazed down at their future, or what would end it. Sage did a quick scan and told them what they had all feared. "It is protected by a forcefield. This forcefield was merged with the most powerful mutant scanner I have ever come into contact with. If anyone goes down there and comes into contact with the forcefield and is detected as a mutant, the bomb will launch. Ironically enough, the only thing that will safely destroy the weapon is mutant energy from the inside."

This revelation left the X-men stunned. Iceman finally broke the silence when he quipped, "So they X-men proofed it, now what?!"

Cyclops looked over the schematics Sage had projected into a handheld device, "The odds aren't good. The.."

"I'll do it," Wildcard interrupted. "I've never been detected so far. All my life I've shown up as a flatcan because my power can't be registered. Let me do this."

"Jessica," Cyclops said trying to reason with the hot-headed young woman, "You heard Sage, it is the most powerful scanner she has ever come into contact with, if there is a chance that you will set that thing off, we can't risk it."

So help me he had better not be saying this because he thinks I'm still a child, thought Jessica. If there was one thing she couldn't stand it was the X-men babying the younger team members. She was twenty years old, a great deal older than many of them when they first joined. "So what do we do, just wait for the timer to run out so that we all die anyway, what other choice do we have?"

Hacker, who had been awfully quiet during this debate, picked this moment to speak up. "Me." Everyone looked at him. "You might not have been detected in the past, Jessie-Rose, but there is a chance since you have the gene, with me there is no chance. I'm not a mutant; I'm not even a carrier for the gene. Even when you temporarily give me powers, it doesn't touch me on the cellular level, it CAN'T be detected, I CAN'T be detected. I have Gambit's powers that you gave me earlier. Sage, is that enough?"

Sage scanned for a second, "Yes, if you can aim a burst of kinetic energy into the core of the weapon that should be enough to shut it down." Cyclops handed him the handheld device with the schematics of the weapon.

"NO," Wildcard cried out! "It's too dangerous, I won't allow it! I'll do it, I'm going and you can't stop me, I won't let you die David!"

A psychic field surrounded Jessica not allowing her to move. Normally a field of this sort wouldn't hold her but this time it was different, the person making the field knew her better than nearly anyone else. She glanced over and saw Nathaniel standing there, using his mind to hold her in place. He couldn't hold her in place forever, just long enough for David to make her understand. The Professor told Nathaniel briefly what was going to happen has he made his way up to the ridge, and he knew that David had to do this.

Hacker nodded at Nathaniel grateful for the assist. "You have to let me do this. You can't go down there. If you do, you die. I have a much better chance of being undetected." He reached over to her, cupping her face in his hands. "I love you Jessica and I refuse to let you do this. And if that isn't reason enough for you, consider this. The X-men are like family to me. They've saved my life more times than I can count; let me do this for them." David embraced Jessica, kissed her, trying to convey all the love and passion he felt into her. He released her, gazed into her eyes, turned away, and went to the rope that Wolverine had already set up on the side of the cliff.

"What are the odds Cyclops, you said that the odds weren't good so what were they." The leader of the X-men refused to look at her. He knew that whoever went down there was not coming back up. Her eyes changed from green to red, the way they did when she was getting ready to use her powers. She tried to break out of the mental hold her friend had her in. "WHAT ARE THE ODDS DAMN IT! _MERDE! _You know I beat the odds, it's what I do, how could you all let him stop me!"

Wildcard had no choice but to watch the man she loved descend down that cliff into the unknown. She broke free of the mental hold and ran toward the edge. Iceman was ready to freeze her in place but he didn't have to. She stopped at the edge of the cliff and just stared down. Her hair had broken free of its ties and flowed wildly around her. Tears welling up in her eyes, she turned to Wolverine, buried her head in his chest, and cried. She knew David was right, he HAD to do this, but she didn't have to watch.

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Hacker made it passed the forcefield, just like he knew he would. He knew exactly what he had to do. Unbeknownst to the other X-men, he knew this was his duty. The Professor psychically told him the night of the briefing just before the alarm went off. Professor X knew that David was the only one who could make it past the forcefield and the powers that Jessica set him up with were specifically the ones needed to shut it off and hopefully make it out alive. He knew this was a mission that he probably wouldn't come back from, but that woman up on the cliff gave him all the reason that he needed to try to make it back alive.

He reached into his utility belt and pulled out the card Gambit slipped him before they left. "For luck" he murmured to himself. He looked at the card for a moment and recalled what his girlfriend's father said to him before they left. He even called him "son." In all the years he had known him, which was all his life, he had never been called son by that man before, and that really meant a lot to him. The LeBeaus were as much his family as his own mother and sister were; in fact, he felt that all of the X-men were one big extended family to him. For a simple flatscan human like himself, that meant everything to him. He reached into his belt again and pulled out a picture of him and Jessica at the Xavier Institute Prom a few years back. He touched her face for a moment and vowed that if he made it out alive he was going to spend the rest of his life with her. The next item he took out of the utility belt was a simple engagement ring. It was the one his father had given his mother so many years ago. One day his mother gave him the ring and told him that he should give it to the woman he was going to marry. David fully intended on doing that right away if he made it out alive. He slipped the picture and ring back in the belt, charged the playing card and prayed that this was would work.

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**3,2,1**

It was a site unlike anything they had ever seen. The complex soundlessly collapsed. Instantly there was nothing but unidentifiable rumble left. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Jessica screamed and broke free from Wolverine's arms. She flew down to the rubble followed by Archangel. The others scaled the side of the cliff as fast as they could.

"DAVID, DAVID!!!! This can't be happening Uncle Warren, he has to be alive."

"I'm sorry Princess," the winged X-man spoke with a shaking voice, "But you know as well as I do that there is no way he could have survived that collapse."

"I know, I…I," she cried as Archangel enveloped her in his feathery wings.

A familiar voice came up behind them, repeating a saying that her father constantly said throughout her life, "Oh I don't know, life's a gamble, sometimes you get a crap shoot, and sometime you get a wildcard."

"DAVID!!!!" He was covered it dirt and soot and his uniform was torn in a number of places, but he was alive! He stood there with that smirk on his face that he got when he was being sneaky and he looked absolutely charming. She ran into his arms, "How did you…What… they…There's no way…" she couldn't find the words at all.

"You're speechless, Ms. LeBeau that's a first," he commented which resulted in a mock look of anger from his beloved. "Jessie-Rose, you know as well as the rest of us that you temporarily transfer some powers into me. Well maybe you gave me more than just some X-men power. Perhaps you gave me some of that LeBeau luck as well," he said with a wink. "Besides, not to get all mushy on you, but how could I allow myself to die when I have this to come back to?" And with that he pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss.

Bishop stared in disbelief. "She's right Rookie, there is no way that you could have survived that collapse. How did you do it?"

"And I have you to thank for that Bishop, Wolverine too," he wrapped an arm casually around his girlfriend as it this was an everyday occurrence. "Let me explain, the Professor told me just before we left that I was the only one who not only had a chance of making it past the forcefield, but surviving the blast as well, although surviving it was a longshot. Jessica transferred various powers into me during the battle to get up here, making sure to give me enough to hold onto for a while. I managed to maintain them for longer than usually possible, something I had been working on with Jess and the Professor over the years. I also held onto more than one, also something we have been working on. When the blast hit, I simultaneously used Bishop's ability to channel energy and Wolverine's healing power. With that, I had a split second to survive the blast. And somehow it worked."

Wolverine looked at the unlikely hero. "You know Kid, you didn't have to do all this. It wasn't your fight. You could have walked away and no one would have blamed you."

"No, Wolverine, I had to. I might not be a mutant but it is my fight. You guys are my family and if someone wants to wipe you have the planet, well, I'm going to do what I can to stop it, even if the solution is illogical and almost impossible."

Cyclops nodded his approval. "That's because you're one of the X-men."

"Yeah," Iceman added. "Illogical and impossible is what we do best."

Jessica gave David an unsure sideways look, "Why did you tell me that you and the Prof had this all figured out?"

"Because I know you Jessica Rose LeBeau, you would have tried to stop me, as seen up there on that cliff not too long ago. I couldn't risk that."

"Well I'm so glad that you both had that figured out Mr. SmartyPants."

"So am I. And do you know why?"

"Why's that?"

"Because I want to spend the rest of my life with you, that is, if you'll take me?"

Jessica looked at him in disbelief for the second time in the past few minutes, "Oh my… I know we've talked about this, but are you saying what I think you're saying?!"

Her parents and the rest of the team made it up there just in time to witness what was going to happen next.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Jessica, Jessie, wake up," Rogue said as gently shook her daughter out of her dream land. "Honey, whatevah ya are dreamin', Ah can guarantee that today will beat it if ya get out of bed."

A year had passed since the situation with the FOH and Project: Noah's Ark. David's sister Carlie had won the election and became a powerful young Congresswoman. That power gave her the ability to start the wheels in motion for taking down the FOH in her own way. There were more people in the world that were for mutants than against them, even though the bigoted mutant haters tended to have louder voices. The Noah's Ark incident left the FOH in shambles, after all, any group that was willing to destroy a large portion of the world's population would have a difficult time gaining money and support again. The hatred towards mutants was far from gone but at least things would be better and continue to get better.

Jessica, David, and Nathaniel all graduated from college and came back home to the X-men in Westchester. As Remy told Wolverine a few days before his own wedding, "it always seems like we're being pulled back to dis place." Those words were still the truth for the next generation. Nathaniel had worked his way up the chain of command in the X-men, becoming group leader on a few smaller missions, a fine start to achieving his ultimate goal of being leader of the X-men someday. When he wasn't working with the X-men, he was patrolling the streets as a police officer, helping to enforce the safety of mutants as well as the safety of everyone everywhere.

David started his own computer repair business. He would run it out of the home office of his newly constructed house, a wedding gift to him and Jessica from Archangel, though he did spend a lot of time at the Mansion helping Hank with the computer needs of the X-men. Jessica took a teaching position at the ever expanding Xavier Institute. Both stayed on the team as reserve members.

"Mmmm, _oui_Momma," Jessica said as she woke from her slumber. "That was the last night I'll ever spend in this room isn't it? Are you going to turn it into a sewing room, or a personal gym, or something?"

"No Shugah, this room will always be here for ya when ya want to visit."

"Momma, I'm living down the street."

"Well then get out of mah new home gym," Rogue joked. "Seriously though, Poppa and Ah will keep this as a guest room. Never know when we'll have grandbabies spendin' the night."

"Momma," Jessica exclaimed as she rolled her eyes.

"Now come on, Poppa's made breakfast, then it's time for us to get ready and get to Uncle Kurt's chapel," Rogue called to her as she made her way out the bedroom door to head downstairs.

Jessica put on a robe and giggled at the idea of her parents as grandparents. Then it hit her, they were getting older, not just her and her peers but the X-men as well. Her mother's white streak was getting wider and her father was also getting white hairs sprinkled throughout his pony-tailed tresses, but they still looked young in her eyes. She spotted a photo on her desk of her parents on their wedding day. She hadn't packed it yet because she wanted to look at it before she got dressed. After all she was wearing her mother's wedding gown, so she wanted to see how much they truly looked alike in it. In the photo her parents looked so young, so happy, and so very much in love. Maybe that's why they never seemed to age in her eyes, because they were still happy and very much in love over two decades later. She looked around her room one last time before heading downstairs for breakfast.

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The ballroom at the Mansion was filled with people laughing, talking, and enjoying each other's company. David and Jessica's wedding was beautiful, words couldn't describe how everyone who witnessed the event felt. Many thought that they were too young for marriage, after all David was only twenty-two and Jessica wouldn't be twenty-two until October, which was still three months away. But the X-men known as Hacker and Wildcard knew better. They had already been through life and death situations, they knew that life could be taken away at a moment's notice and neither wanted to take the chance of dying before they could give married life a try. Gambit and Rogue not only agreed but gave their complete undying blessings. They knew too well how horrible life could be without the one you loved and they didn't want their daughter to go through the same heartache either of them felt at various points in their courtship.

Everyone mingled and danced while taking turns congratulating the happy couple. Jubilee and Bobby took turns feeding their nearly one year old daughter Hope Elizabeth Drake little bites of wedding cake. She was born not long after the Noah's Ark operation and was named in honor of the hope the X-men had for surviving whatever life threw at them. Kitty and Damien sat at the table with them with recounting how life was like when their young son was that age. Professor Xavier chatted with Kurt and Congresswoman Carlie Williams about how lucky they all were to be here today with all they had faced over the years. Logan sat to one side of the room with Kitty and Damien's son Michael, Alex and Charlie Summers, and his son Munroe telling them tales about the X-men; it was their favorite pastime, they loved to hear all about how the X-men would ultimately save the day. While Logan weaved a tapestry of tales for the youngsters, Ororo, Monica Williams, Jean-Luc LeBeau, and Tante Mattie chatted at the table next to them. The dance floor was of course occupied as well. Jean and Scott enjoyed a slow dance together while Best Man Nathaniel asked the Maid of Honor Jane, Jessica's college roommate to dance. Beast also took to the dance floor with his date Trish Tilby. After the near destruction of mutant kind they decided to rekindle what they once had and their on again off again relationship was back on. After all these years hopefully it was on for good. They did hint more than once that there might be another mutant-human wedding around the corner. Bishop and Sage also went on the dance floor after being persuaded by Warren who was enjoying a drink at the bar. Rogue danced with her son-in-law while insisting that he call her "Momma" and call Remy "Poppa." She didn't have to do much asking, it felt natural to him; after all, they had been like family all along.

Finally Remy enjoyed a dance with his daughter Jessica Rose Williams. He recalled how he taught her to dance when she was little, how she grew into the beautiful woman that he held in his arms now. Although he knew she was now a married woman, she would somehow always be his little girl, nothing would change that. As Remy twirled Jessica and proceeded to dip her, he couldn't help but think to himself that so many years ago he never thought that he would have happiness like this. He married someone that he loved with his entire heart and soul, they had a family, and now he was helping his daughter start a new life of her own with the man that she loved as much as he loved Rogue. Lady Luck may have handed him nothing but pairs in the past, but he knew this was the royal flush. After all, perhaps something this wonderful could last forever. That's all he kept telling himself. It was inevitable.

**_The End_**

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**Author's Notes**- Wow, after all these chapters, we have reached the end of our journey. I'd like to extend a great big thank you to everyone who has read this story. You are the reason I kept posting. Little side note: This, with a few alterations, was the first chapter I wrote. But I can't believe I have finished telling this tale. After a while it seemed like the characters began to write themselves, and in some cases I think they really did. But I'm glad it did, I'm pretty happy with the way this story turned out. But it's been so much fun and I hope to see you all again someday in another story. Until then…

Now on to the last comments section of this story: (EEEP! It's so sad!)

**Tammy- **I'm glad that you have enjoyed this story and I hope you like how the FOH storyline was resolved. It was one of the things that I came up with before I wrote the rest of the story. Just thought it would be interesting and something that was never done before (to my knowledge anyway). Thanks for sticking with me all this time! :-)

**Calliann****-** Corny jokes are A-ok in my book!:-) I thought you made a good analogy.

**Sweety8587- **Oddly enough I had a dream with the whole Jean-ix thing when I was up late one night trying to write one of the other chapters and I just had to put it in (you know it's bad when you are still writing the fics after you fall asleep:-P)

**Ishandahalf****- **Glad you liked the codename, I was trying really hard to think of something good and then I thought, maybe Angel of Death since Archangel brought Xavier the news, but then Project: Noah's Ark came to my mind and just sounded cooler:-P Thanks for sticking with me all this time and I hope you enjoyed the rest of the story! :-)

**GiveGodtheglory****- **Glad you enjoyed the previous chapter, I hope you enjoyed this ending as well! :-)

**Liliput**** 83- **I'm sorry you have mixed feelings about the story coming to an end, but you know the old saying, "All good things must come to an end," or something like that.:-P I hope you join me in future stories! :-)


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